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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS 

EDUCATION 

Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 1-239 July 15, 1907 


SUPERSTITION AND EDUCATION 


BY 

FLETCHER BASCOM DRESSLAR 


V..>. . ^ *- . r: — .. ' >•-. /T JFitJ 

^ -r c.-^. ^ v v, *r ■* ' £p- •• ' 

BERKELEY 

THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 



fonograph 



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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS 




EDUCATION 

Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 1-239 


July 15, 1907 


SUPERSTITION AND EDUCATION 

BY 

FLETCHER BASCOM DRESSLAR 


PAGE 

* 

Introductory Chapter 2 

Classified Lists of Superstitions 9 

What is Superstition? 141 

Belief in Superstitions 146 

Uses of Superstitions 154 

Luck 159 

Wishing 175 

Charms anu Cures 178 

Animals in Superstitious Lore 184 

What are the Most Common Superstitions 190 

On Mental Preference for Odd Numbers 195 

“Over the Left” 205 

Remembering Superstitions 209 

Superstition and Education _ 212 

Bibliography 235 

Index 237 


9 


University of California Publications in Education. l Vo1 - 5 


CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTION. 


The matter set forth in this volume has to do with that mental 
tendency in humanity which finds satisfaction in retaining super- 
stitions and in believing in them. It is an attempt to peep into 
that darkly veiled but interesting mental realm which holds the 
best preserved remnants of our psychic evolution, as well as those 
ethnic impulses which are responsible for much of our present 
behavior. 

The material upon which the discussions are based was gath- 
ered directly from the minds of young people during the time of 
their professional preparation for the work of teaching. It was 
collected in such a way as to avoid entirely the possibility of 
mutual help or suggestion. Blank slips of paper were passed to 
students, after they had taken their seats for class work, and they 
were asked unexpectedly to write out carefully all the supersti- 
tions they knew, each relying entirely on his own memory. No 
suggestive communication with each other or with the teacher was 
allowed. Each slip of paper was to bear but one superstition and 
the writer’s honest expression of belief or non-belief in it. They 
were told that their belief was to be recorded in one of three dif- 
ferent forms. If a student was convinced he had no belief in a 
given specimen which he had written, he was directed to write on 
the margin of the slip recording it: “No belief.” If he felt that 
he could not honestly say “I have no belief in it,” and yet was 
conscious that an expression of full belief in it would over-state 
his faith, he was directed to mark it: “Partial Belief.” Those in 
which he had full belief were to be so marked. It is necessary, 
for a proper appreciation of the expressions of belief, to say that 
the students, from whom these returns were collected, were earn- 
estly urged to give honest reports, and told that they would be 
shielded from individual publicity in the results. There is not 
the least doubt in the mind of the writer concerning the honesty 
of the reports. And it is worth while to say here that three 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


3 


classes of belief were chosen instead of two for the sake of help- 
ing them to tell the truth. Partial belief means that “one would 
rather be on the right side / 7 that there was a “feeling of belief” 
but it would be difficult to decide as to its exact strength. It must 
be borne in mind, however, that “partial belief” is belief. It is 
an indefinite and conditional belief to be sure, but it may be 
as persistent and as thoroughly superstitious as “full belief . 77 
Moreover, the conditions under which these superstitions were 
gathered were most favorable to calm and rational judgment. 
Those who gave them were all students, as we have said, seated 
in a class-room, in the daytime, under the supervision of critical 
teachers, and wholly undisturbed by anv distracting emotional 
stimulus. 

In this connection I wish to remark that those writers on 
superstition who have collected their material by going about 
soliciting from all classes, and frequently asking those inter- 
viewed to match specimens furnished by the questioner, have 
offered chances for the vitiation of their material not consistent 
with later scientific treatment. The plan adopted in the collec- 
tion of the material here given will, I believe, commend itself, to 
those who seek to prevent suggestion, as a method free from any 
possible unconscious or other bias on the part of the questioner. 
It gave each individual the same opportunity to express his per- 
sonal superstitious holdings and the faith that he had come to 
attach to them. And this is just what we are seeking to know. 
There is no set of superstitions which will appeal with exactly 
equal force to each individual of any large group of people ; and 
for just the same reason that there is no set of religious doctrines 
which command the same degree of implicit faith from any great 
number of devotees. For this reason we will always get nearer 
to human nature, in such things as we have under consideration, 
when we get an honest, unhindered expression of personal atti- 
tudes. 

After records were taken, it often happened that individual 
members of the class volunteered to express their appreciation of 
the opportunity to record “partial belief” instead of being com- 
pelled to decide between no belief and full belief. They explained 
that while they really believed in an example they could not feel 


4 


University of California Publications in Education. I v °l. 5 


as if the belief were “full belief. ” This last remark is a signifi- 
cant one and deserves the most careful consideration. A “feeling 
to believe” antedates, and often takes precedence of any sort of 
“will to believe,” or intellectual compulsion to believe. 

The specimens given in the classified lists were gathered from 
eight hundred and seventy-five students between the ages of six- 
teen and twenty-eight years. The average age was about nineteen 
years. The large majority of them were women. The exact pro- 
portion of the sexes cannot be given. The failure to be exact in 
these particulars is due to the fact that, unintentionally, the re- 
turns of a few groups were prematurely mixed. But if 80 per 
cent, be taken to represent the number of women and 20 per cent, 
the number of men, the truth will not suffer materially. Besides 
all evidence collected goes to show that the returns from the men 
differed very slightly, if at all, from those of the women. Still I 
am inclined to believe that, if returns from the same number of 
men representing the same class of students were collected, expres- 
sions of belief would vary somewhat from those in hand. And yet 
• it is only fair to say that on the basis of the returns gathered no 
such definite tendency is observable. I believe, however, that men, 
under favorable conditions, are less ready to believe in supersti- 
tions than are women. But history makes it very plain to us, 
that when men become excited and wrought up in their emotional 
natures, they are guided far more by emotional and superstitious 
reactions than by reason. Besides we only need to look about us 
today to see on every hand evidences of their belief in luck, in 


fortune telling, in clairvoyance, and superstitious influences of 
various sorts, even during the hours of sober life. Were it not 
for this weakness, the great flare of advertisements which daily 
appear in our newspapers, regarding lotteries, “occult guidance 
in finding hidden mines,” “Psychic Power which will give you 
control over all things,” etc., etc., would prove utterly useless and 
wasteful, instead of the good investments they now undoubtedly 
are to those who prey upon the weaknesses of humanity. It will 
help us in this general estimate, too, to recall that although his- 
tory makes mention of more witches than wizards, men have been 
the accusers and the prosecutors; and perhaps they are almost 
entirely responsible for the great number of legal butcheries, of 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


5 


so-called witches, which have been committed in all lands in the 
name of religion and civil liberty. Moreover, men have written 
the books in behalf of witchcraft, as can be seen bv reference to 
any list on this subject. Some of these have been men occupying 
positions of the highest judicial and religious importance, and 
they wrote from an earnest purpose to present the truth as they 
conceived it. 

I have seen many men “ locating veins” of water in the earth 
by means of a forked stick, and recentlv I came across a new book 
on “Water Witching,” written by two Englishmen, and com- 
mended by men of high scientific authority, if we may believe 
the publishers. The authors are apparently intelligent men and 
make a show of scientific treatment of their subject. But when 
these and others of their belief insist that “it won’t work” save 
for a favored few, we can feel pretty sure that there is a dan- 
gerous error somewhere. Generally speaking, men are more loth 
to express their superstitious faith than are women, but this does 
not necessarily argue that the latter have more of it to express. 
I believe it is not far from the truth to say that if women were 
given the same practical experience in life as men, and if they 
were so conditioned as to acquire an equal breadth and variety 
of experience, what now seems to some as such a wide and funda- 
mental difference in this regard would be greatly lessened. When 
we recall that a student 1 of education discovered a few years ago, 
in the office of a “broker,” more than half a million of letters, 
which had been written chiefly by young men to quack doctors 
for advice and treatment, we realize something of the potency of 
emotional suggestion, and the willingness of our men to believe in 
spite of knowledge. 

From the point of view of method the material is uniform in 
that it was gathered from a classified body of students and there- 
fore admits of direct statistical treatment. On the other hand, 
the material represents, perhaps, as wide a geographical distri- 
bution as any collection which could be gotten together from the 
same number of young people so uniformly classified. It was 
gathered from the students of two normal schools working under 
the same entrance requirements, though separated from each 

1 See Lancaster, Pedagogical Seminary , Yol. 5, p. 124 f. 


University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


6 

other by more than six hundred miles. Furthermore, these were 
all California students whose parents for the most part came 
from all states and nearly all countries. While, therefore, they 
typify a special and somewhat limited class, they represent in a 
definite way a general mental attitude. 

The method used in the classification and arrangement of the 
specimens collected needs a few words of explanation in order to 
facilitate a study of the lists. In the first place it will be seen 
that they have been grouped under general headings which were 
determined by the nature of the data which the superstitions 
themselves claimed to interpret. It was found after much study 
and many attempts that no other method offered the same free- 
dom of grouping and at the same time an equal amount of sug- 
gestive comparison. For example, all that refer in a primary 
way to salt have been grouped under this heading regardless of 
the varieties of interpretations given to them ; so with horseshoes, 
birds, dishrags, or any other of the groups given. By this class- 
ification the mind of the reader is brought, as it were, into some- 
thing of the environment of those who developed superstitions. 
He sees at once what objects and events the folk-mind deemed 
portentous and ominous, or at least those to which they have at- 
tached superstitious interpretations. 

In the second place, the specimens in each group are so 
arranged as to bring together those most alike, always giving 
precedence to the general or generic. This plan can be under- 
stood more readily by taking a group as an illustration. For 
example, all the specimens collected, which refer in a primary 
way to salt, have been put together to form a group, and the first 
example given under this heading represents as nearly as could 
be determined the most generic form of the salt-superstition 
found in the group. Those following grow more and more spe- 
cific and consequently exhibit the changes which they undergo in 
transmission and in adaptation, though of course it must be 
understood that the most general form is not often if ever the 
original form. What is true in regard to the arrangement of this 
group is true of each succeeding one. 

It will be seen also, that nearly all of the groups are intro- 
duced by one or more similar specimens gathered from literature, 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


7 


other collections, and personal observation, and are here inserted 
merely for purposes of suggestive comparison. 

It should be stated at this point that no liberties whatever 
have been taken either with the form or language in which the 
superstitions were presented. They have been recorded just as 
they were written by the young people from whom they were 
collected. 

I am not a specialist in folk-lore and therefore make no serious 
attempt to deal in a general way with that subject. The material 
presented has been gathered and ordered simply in the hope that 
through it we might arrive at a better understanding of the 
common mind as it exists amongst us today, in order to know 
better how to deal with it in matters educational. If, by chance, 
the material set forth turns out to be suggestive to those who are 
laboring in the larger field of folk-thought, it will be of course a 
source of pleasure to me. But the specialist who reads, expecting 
to find a discussion of current theories of folk-lore, will be disap- 
pointed. To all such, let me say, here is a mass of original data 
which has been carefully collected and honestly wrought into the 
form it now holds, and if it can be used to advantage in the illus- 
tration or elucidation of current theories it is heartily and cheer- 
fully furnished. My chief interest, as I have suggested, lies in 
the field of practical education. In fact this study grew out of 
an attempt to discover the reasons why the students furnishing 
the data seemed unable to look at the problems of life and mind 
in a scientific way. In working with them I constantly felt that 
their intellectual grasp and freedom were being hindered by sub- 
jective conditions over which neither they nor I seemed to have 
much control. They were so often unwilling to assent to what 
seemed to me reasonable interpretations that I felt the need of a 
better understanding of these unconscious hindrances, and set to 
work in the way already indicated. And, while I may not have 
succeeded in pointing out specific methods of dealing with such 
conditions, I cannot help thinking that all who study the returns 
carefully will find in them suggestions bearing upon the larger 
problems of education. It is my conviction that before we can 
deal with the people most successfully we must know as far as 
possible their present condition. Before we can with certainty 


8 


University of California Publications in Education. IT 01 - 5 


expect the appearance of rational freedom as a guiding principle 
in human behavior, we must calculate the labor and time it will 
require to eradicate the mental remnants which now delude us 
and urge us backward instead of forward. 

It sometimes happens that an unfounded and an over ex- 
pectant optimism begets a reaction which ends in an extreme 
form of pessimism and despair. It is greatly to be hoped that 
the educational leaders of our country, a country whose future 
will be determined by the rational and moral enlightenment of its 
whole people, will not err in underestimating the task we have 
set for ourselves. All enthusiasts who go about preaching the 
doctrine that social and intellectual regeneration can be accom- 
plished in a decade or in a century, ought to be called to account, 
and, if possible, made to realize that such talk is not only silly 
but dangerous. It is not necessary to be pessimistic in order to 
be cautious, but it is absolutely essential in things social to be 
cautious to prevent the calamities incident to a widespread loss 
of faith in education, and the possibilities of social amelioration. 

Dazzled by the present state of material progress, and inclined 
to fall into the current mistake of looking back upon man’s 
development as a thing accomplished within a few centuries, we 
are easily led into an expectation altogether too optimistic and 
essentially irrational. Either man is yet in his evolutional in- 
fancy — if we may judge from his behavior — or else it was never 
intended that he should conform to the image of his Creator. 


In a study of the lists it will be noticed that the figures in the 
last column, marked 4 ‘ totals, ” represent the number of individ- 
uals giving the superstition opposite. The figures in the other 
columns represent the number of these expressing the sort of 
belief indicated at the head of these columns. By this arrange- 
ment the reader can interpret as he reads. 

Acknowledgments are due to Professor J. E. Shepardson of 
the State Normal School of Los Angeles and to President C. C. 
Van Liew of the State Normal School at Chico for valuable and 
critical assistance in collecting the material here presented. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — 8 uperstition and Education. 


9 


CHAPTER II. 

CLASSIFIED LISTS OF SUPERSTITIONS. 


Salt. 


It will bring ill-fortune to spill salt, unless some of it be gath- 
ered up and cast into the fire. {French.) 


If you spill salt, you ’ll have bad luck 

If you spill salt, it is the sign of trouble 

4 

As many days of salt you spill 

So many days of sorrow you ’ll fill 

If you spill salt, you’ll cry before night 

If the salt is spilled, there ’ll be company to dinner 

If you spill salt, you ’ll surely have bad luck unless you 
throw some over your shoulder 

If you spill salt, you will quarrel with a friend unless 
you throw some of the spilt salt over your left 
shoulder 

If salt is spilt and some be immediately thrown over the 
right shoulder, bad luck will be averted 

If you spill salt, you ’ll have bad luck unless you burn 
some of it 

If you spill salt, throw some in the fire or you ’ll have a 
quarrel 

If you spill salt on the floor, you’ll have trouble with 
neighbors. The trouble may be averted by burning 
some on the stove 

If you upset a salt cup, you’ll lose a friend unless you 
burn some salt 



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If you spill salt, you’ll quarrel with your friend unless 
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1 


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10 University of California Publications 


It is the sign of a quarrel to spill salt 

Spilling the salt means a quarrel in the family 


Education. 

[Vol. 5 

No 

Belief 

Partial 

Belief 

Full 

Belief 

Totals 

... 15 

7 

3 25 


If you spill salt and do not pick it up, you will surely 


have a quarrel 1 .... 1 

It is the sign of a tight to spill salt 2 1 .... 3" 

If you spill salt, you will have a fight with a friend 1 1 


It is a sign of a tight to spill salt; but if you burn some 

of it, you ’ll be victor 1 .... 1 

If you spill salt, you will get a whipping 2 1 .... 3 

If you start anywhere and spill salt, something will 

happen to you 1 1 

If you spill salt on the table between yourself and some 
other person, it indicates a quarrel will arise between 
you 2 1 .... 3 

Spilling salt is the sign of tears 1 .... •.... I 

If you spill salt, it betokens sorrow which will cause as 

many tears as there were grains of salt spilt 1 1 

Throwing away salt will bring bad luck 1 1 

It will bring bad luck to throw away any salt left from 

a luncheon 1 I 

It will bring bad luck to return borrowed salt 4 1 2 7 

If you return borrowed salt, you will have trouble with 

the person from whom you borrowed it 2 .... 1 3 

Never thank a person for borrowed salt, for it would 

bring bad luck to the one who loaned it 1 1 

If the salt becomes damp, it will rain 112 

When at table, do not let any one help you to salt, for 

he will thereby help you to trouble 1 1 

If you put too much salt in the cooking, it means you 

are in love 1 .... 1 2 


If you eat a thimbleful of salt just before retiring, and 
jump into bed backward, you will dream of some one 
bringing you water, and that person will marry you 1 

When moving into a new house you should put a bag of 
salt in before you put in anything else, and you will 
have good luck 


1 


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1 


1 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


11 


Bread and Butter. 

Never leave a loaf of bread upside down, for it will be sure to 
cause ships to sink. {Negro. Southern States.) 



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Burning the bread is a sure sign of a quarrel 1 1 

If you burn your bread, your husband will come in cross 1 1 

Eating burnt bread or cake will make the hair curl 1 1 

If your bread cracks open on top, you will hear of a 

death soon 1 .... 1 

It is unlucky to leave a loaf of bread upside down on 

the table 1 1 

If you accidentally turn a loaf of bread upside down 

while cutting it, you will soon hear of a death 1 1 

A fight will be the result of turning your bread wrong 

side up on the table 1 1 

If you drop a piece of bread, some one will come who is 

hungrier than you are 1 .... 1 

If a piece of buttered bread falls on its buttered side, it 

will rain 1 1 

If you drop a piece of bread w r ith the buttered side 

dowm, you may expect a hungry visitor 1 1 .... 2 

If a crumb of bread drops out of your mouth, death will 

be upon you within a week 1 1 

Eating bread buttered side down brings w T ealth 1 1 

If you take bread at table when you already have some, 

some one is coming hungry 1 2 .... 3 

If you take the last slice of bread from the plate, you 

will never be married 3 3 

When baking bread, if one loaf rises higher than an- 
other, something is going to happen 1 1 

If you take food on your plate when you still have some 

of that kind, it is a sign some one is coming 4 4 

To help yourself to bread or other food when you have 
some on your plate is a sign that some one is coming 
hungry 7 3 3 13 


12 University of California Publications in Education. [ VTo1 - 5 


o> 


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Taking a second piece of bread at the table if you al- 
ready have one is the sign some one will come to the 
house, hungry 



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If you take a second piece of bread while you have some 
on your plate, some one will come asking for food .... 1 


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If you have butter on your plate and take butter, some- 
body is coming hungry 1 

If you help yourself to butter when you have some, some 
one is coming butter hungry 1 

If you take butter when you have some, there will be a 
wedding in the family within a year 1 

If you take more of a certain article while eating, when 


you have some left on your plate, you will some day 


lack for that thing 1 

If you take the last slice upon a plate, you will remain 
unmarried 3 


1 

1 

1 


1 

3 


To take the last piece of bread on the plate insures your 

being an old maid 2 2 

If you take the last piece of bread on the plate, you will 

not be married this year 1 .... 1 


When you help yourself to more food not knowing you 
have some is a sign some one is coming hungry to 
your door 1 1 

If, when you are eating, something falls from your fork 
as you were about to eat it, it is a sign that it was 


not meant to be eaten 1 

If you eat pickles, it is a sign that you are in love 1 


o 


1 

1 


Tea and Coffee. 


If the bubbles, which arise in a cup of coffee as the result of 
the dissolving sugar, cover the surface of the liquid, it means that 
you are to have much money. (Paris.) 


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If you leave the tea-kettle uncovered after filling it, 
company is coming 2 


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You can foretell coming events by reading tea-grounds 1 


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1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education . 


o 

£ 


Floating tea-grounds means that visitors are coming 7 

The number of floating leaves in your cup of tea fore- 
tells the number of visitors which you may expect .... 4 

When a long stem of a tea-leaf rises to the surface of 
the cup, company is coming 1 

Tf you find tea-grounds in your cup, it is a sign of vis- 
itors coming; the size of the visitors depending on 
the size of the tea-ground; a long one means a man, 
a short one, a woman 4 

If a tea-leaf rises to the top of your cup, you are to 
have visitors. If the leaf is soft, a lady; if hard, a 
gentleman 4 

If the stem of a tea-leaf comes to the top of a cup of 
tea, you will have a caller very soon. You can de- 
termine whether the caller will be old or young, a 
man or woman, by biting the stem 

If there is a stem in your tea, a visitor may be expected. 

If it sinks to the bottom the visitor will remain all 
night 1 

If tea-grounds are found in your cup, you may expect a 
letter, company, or bad news. If you will place the 
grounds on one fist and strike them with the other 
and at each stroke name a day of the week, you can 
determine the day when the letter, company, or news 
may be expected by noting when the grounds stick to 
the fist used in striking 

Sticks in the tea foretell the coming of company; a gen- 
tleman if hard, a lady if soft. The stick should be 
placed on the palm of the hand and slapped with the 
other hand. If it falls, the company has changed his 
mind and is not coming. If it sticks to the left 
hand, he is coming today; if to the right, he is com- 


ing tomorrow 1 

Leaves in the tea are letters soon to come 3 

If there are grounds in your tea, a paper is coming to 

you i 

If there are tea-leaves in your cup, you will get money 2 

If a round place of foam is floating in your cup of tea 
or coffee, you will get a present 1 


Belief 


14 University of California Publications in Education. ITol. 5 





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Bubbles on a cup of tea or coffee is a sign of money 3 2 .... 5 

If you will drink the bubbles on your cup of tea, you 

will get money 2 2 


If there are bubbles in your cup of tea and you can get 
them into your spoon without breaking them, you 

will get a fortune .•» 1 .... 1 


If the bubbles on your cup of coffee form a ring in the 
middle of the surface, you will soon be kissed 


1 1 


If you want to know whether or not absent ones will re- 
turn, stir up the grounds in your cup of coffee. If 

the grounds rise, the absent ones will return 1 1 


Plants and Fruit. 


If the lilies bloom during the month of February, the year 
will be prosperous. ( Chinese .) 


To find a four-leaved clover will bring good luck 

To find a four-leaved clover is a sign of joy soon to 
follow 

If you swallow a four-leaved clover, good luck will 
follow 

Four-leaved clovers worn in the shoes bring good luck 

If you find a four-leaved clover and then make a wish, 
you will have your wish 

If you find a four-leaved clover and put it in your shoe, 
the first man you meet you will marry 


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Put a four-leaved clover in the shoe and at the same 
time make a wish ; if the clover is still there when 

the shoe is removed the wish will come true 1 1 


To find a clover with five or seven leaves is to find bad 
luck 


If you hold a buttercup under your chin, and the yellow 


is reflected, you are fond of butter 1 1 

Ivy is an unlucky plant 1 1 


1907] Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 15 


A passion-vine in the yard brings bad luck 1 1 

Throw a piece of love vine over your shoulder: if it 

grows, you are in love 1 .... 1 


If we whirl a sprig of love vine around our heads three 


times and let it fall, and it falls on a plant and 

grows, we will be fortunate in falling in love 1 1 .... 2 

The plant “wandering Jew” will bring you ill if kept 

in the house 1 1 

If when picking nettles you hold your breath, they will 

not sting you 1 1 


To recover a lost object, take a dandelion puff ball and 
blow on it with the breath, then follow the direction 


of the little particles and you will find the object .... 1 1 

If you plant flowers when you are feeling ill, the flowers 

will not grow 1 1 

If an apple tree blooms out of season, there will be a 

death among the relatives soon 2 1 .... 3 

To eat an apple that is left over a year on a tree will 

bring death 1 1 

If the beet plants all run to seed, there will be a death 

in the family soon 1 1 

If you plant an evergreen tree in your dooryard, one of 


your family will die when the shadow is large enough 


to cover a grave 1 1 

If you plant corn when the oak leaves are as big as 

rabbit’s ears, there will be a large crop 1 1 

Never thank any one for seeds, or they will not grow .... 1 1 

If in sowing grain a piece of ground is missed, there will 
be a death in the family of the sower before the 
grain is harvested 1 1 

Hang a bamboo cane, with one end cocked up on a 


string so that it will rotate easily, and the open end 
will swing round and point toward a place where 


gold may be found , 1 1 

An abundant crop of acorns signifies a hard winter 1 .... 1 

If acorns and yellow- jackets are numerous during the 

summer, the following winter will be severe 1 1 


Totals 


16 


University of California Publications in Education. [ V()1 - 5 


If while riding horseback you carry a peach tree switch, 
it will bring bad luck 

There is a belief that when a forked willow branch 
turns in the hand it is a sign of water in the ground 
at that place 1 

If you peel an apple and do not break the peeling and 
then drop the peeling on the table, the letter it forms 
will be the initial of your lover 

If you throw an apple peeling over your left shoulder, 
the letter it most nearly resembles is the initial of 
your future husband 1 


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Peel an apple and move the peeling around your head 
three times and toss it on the floor : it will form the 
initial of your future husband’s name 1 1 

If you throw an apple peeling over your shoulder and a 
certain letter is formed, that letter is initial of your 
future companion’s first name 1 

Peel an orange, throw the peeling over your right shoul- 
der : whatever initial the peeling makes will be the 
initial of your husband or wife 1 

Throw an orange peeling over the left shoulder and it 

will form the initial of the man or woman you will 

marry 1 

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2 


1 


1 


1 


Fire. 


A chunk of fire, falling down on the hearth, is a sure sign 
that a guest is coming. ( North Carolina.) 


If the fire crackles, it is a sure sign of news 

If the fire sizzles, there will be a storm 

If the fire crackles loudly, there is going to be a rain .... 

If a fire puffs, it is a sure sign of a neighbor’s quar- 
reling 


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When sparkles of fire burn on the outside of a kettle, 
rain will surely follow 1 


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1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


17 


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If you let the fire die out, while cooking, your husband 
will be a lazy man 1 

If a young lady makes the fire burn well, she will have 

a good husband ’ 1 

If a maiden cannot build a good fire, her husband will 

be a lazy man 3 1 






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If you carry fire from one room to another, there will be 

a quarrel in the family 1 .... 1 

If a single person can make a fire in a stove, at the first 
trial, it is a sign that the future helpmeet will be 
very bright and energetic 1 1 

When the smoke goes straight up from the fire, it will 

rain soon 2 2 


Lightning. 

The lightning will strike whatever you work at on ascension 
day. ( Harz mountains. See Grimm, Teutonic Mythology.) 


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It is bad luck to burn a tree which lias been struck by 


lightning 1 1 

Never touch a tree that has been struck by lightning, for 
it is possessed of devils and will bring misfortune to 

you 1 1 

If you pick your teeth with a splinter taken from a tree 
that has been struck with lightning, you will never 

have the toothache 1 1 


Rainbow. 


( Old German. See Grimm.) 


The rainbow is the sign of good luck 


Bainbow at night is a sailor’s delight; 
Bainbow at morning, sailors take warning 


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18 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


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If a rainbow is seen in the morning, a great storm will 
follow 1 

When a rainbow is seen after a storm, the storm is over .... 

There is gold at the end of the rainbow 3 

A large bag of gold and precious stones is at the end of 
a rainbow 

Go to the end of the rainbow and you will find a pot of 
gold 1 


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Moon. 


If you are out of money, you must not allow the moon to shine 
into your empty purse, or it will never be filled. ( German . See 
Grimm. ) 



No 

Belief 

Parti a 
Belief 

Full 

Belief 

Totals 

Potatoes planted in the dark of the moon will give a 
good crop 

5 

3 

8 

16 

If you plant potatoes in the dark of the moon, they will 
all go to tops 


1 

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3 

If you plant your potatoes in the light of the moon, you 
will have a good crop 

2 

3 

4 

9 

If you plant potatoes when the moon is full, you will 
have a good crop 

3 

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3 

6 

Potatoes planted in the light of the moon will all go to 
tops 

1 

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. . . — 

1 

If potatoes are planted in the full of the moon, they will 
all go to tops 

1 

.... 

1 

2 

Farmers who plant their grain during a growing moon 
have good crops 

3 

.... 

3 

6 

Vegetables or fruit that produce above ground should be 
planted on the increase of the moon 

2 

9 

5 

9 

Eoots and vegetables that produce in the earth should 
be planted on the down of the moon 

1 

1 

5 

7 

If you plant anything in the full of the moon, it will all 
go to top 

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1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


19 




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Jf you plant anything in the dark of the moon, it will 

all grow to root 1 1 

If you roof your house in the decrease of the moon, the 

shingles will never warp or turn up 1 

Rail fences built in the dark of the moon will soon decay 

at the bottom 1 1 

Never build a fence in the new of the moon. Worms 


and insects will eat into the posts and cause decay 1 

If you cover the grass with a board in the dark of the 


moon, the grass mil turn white, but will stay green 

if covered in full moon 1 

Do not grub trees in the light of the moon, because they 

will sprout again , 1 

Washing your hair when there is a new moon makes it 

grow 1 


If you cut the hair in the new moon it will grow better 7 9 14 

If you trim your hair at every new moon, it will grow 


fast 1 

Out the ends of your hair every new moon and it will 

grow better 1 .... 2 

Cutting the hair during the first quarter of the moon 

causes it to grow faster 1 

If a person ’s hair is cut on the Friday after new moon 

it will grow better 2 1 

One’s hair will make more rapid growth if cut off dur- 
ing the last quarter of the moon 1 1 

If the hair is cut in the full of the moon, it will grow 

very rapidly 1 .... 3 

Trim or singe the hair in the dark of the moon to keep 

it from splitting 2 


If the hair be cut in the dark of the moon, it will be 
harsh and slow of growth 

Light hair will turn darker if cut in the dark of the 


moon 1 

If animals are butchered during the light of the moon, 

the meat will shrink w T hen cooked 1 


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1 


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1 


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1 

1 

30 


1 


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2 

4 

2 

2 

1 


1 


2 


Totals 


20 University of California Publications in Education . [ Vo1 * 5 


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If you kill a pig during the new moon, the meat will 
shrivel up in the frying pan 1 

Meat killed in the beginning of a new moon will swell 
wiien cooked 

If a beef is killed in any but the full moon, it will 
shrivel when boiled 

Pork will not be good unless killed in the full of the 
moon 1 


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Meat killed in dark of the moon shrinks when cooked .... 1 1 

If hogs are killed in the dark of the moon, the meat w T ill 

shrink when cooked 2 2 

Fish hung in the moonlight will quickly spoil 1 .... 1 

If a person sleeps with his face in the moonlight, his 

features wall become distorted 1 .... 1 

The moon shining on a person's face wdien asleep wall 

cause insanity 3 13 7 

If a person sleeps with the moon shining on his face 

habitually, insanity will result 1 .... 1 

If you let the moon shine on the face of a sleeping 

child, he w ill become insane 1 1 

Moonshine on the face of a sleeper causes first restless- 
ness, then headache or neuralgia, and finally insanity .... 1 .... 1 

If you wash a wish to the new 7 moon, it will come true 1 1 

When you first see the new 7 moon, make a wash and it 

wall come true 2 .... 1 3 

If you make a wish on the new 7 moon, spit on the ground 

while looking at it : your wash is sure to come true 1 .... 1 

If you are in a company and see the new 7 moon, make a 

wish and it will come true 1 1 

If you see the new moon over your left shoulder for the 
first time and at the same time make a wash, your 

wish will be granted 6 3 .... 9' 

If you see the new moon over your left shoulder, good 

luck will follow 22 10 .... 32: 


1907 ] Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 21 


To see a new moon over your left shoulder will bring 
good luck the rest of the month 

Seeing a new moon over the left shoulder is an indica- 
tion one will be married within a year 

It is good luck to see the moon over the left shoulder if 
you have money in your hand 

If you look at the new moon over your left shoulder and 
hold a pocketbook in one hand and make a wish, the 
wish will come true 

If you look at the new moon for the first time over your 
left shoulder and have some money in your pocket, 
you are going to receive more money soon 

If you see the new moon over your left shoulder for the 
first time, you will have bad luck 

If you see the new moon over your right shoulder, it is 
good luck 

If you look at the new moon first over the right shoul- 
der, it will bring you good luck before it is full 

If you see the new moon over your right shoulder and 
have money in your pocket, you will have plenty of 
money while the moon lasts 

To see the new moon for the first time full in the face 
brings hard work until the next new moon 

If you see the new moon first over your right shoulder 
and make a wish, it will come true 

If you look at the new moon over your right shoulder, 
you will have bad luck 

If you look at the new moon over the right shoulder, 
then shake your hand at it, you will have plenty of 
pocket money the rest of the month 

It is bad luck to sneeze while looking at the new moon 


No 

Belief 

Partial 

Belief 

Full 

Belief 

Totals 

2 

— 

— 

. 9 

1 

— 

— 

1 

1 

1 

— 

9 


1 

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1 

1 

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29 

24 

3 

56 

43 

38 

6 

87 

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1 

4 

9 

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6 


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6 

6 

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12 

3 

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1 



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Never look at the new moon with anything in your 
hands, lest you be burdened all month 1 


1 


If your hands are empty when you first see the new 

moon, you will lose something you prize highly 1 1 

If you see the new moon for the first time and your 

hands are full, you will receive a present that month .... 1 


1 


99 


University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


© 

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If you look through trees at the moon, you will have 
bad luck 1 

If you see the new T moon through the bushes, it means 
bad luck and the reverse 1 

Bad luck will come to you if you look at the new moon 
first through glass 1 

It is bad luck to see the new moon reflected in a mirror 1 

If trees are trimmed during the full of the moon, the 
trees will grow better and also yield better 1 

If you brand a cow in the growing moon, the brand will 
grow much larger; brand in the full moon, and the 
scar will remain the same 

If the new moon is so placed in the sky that the two 
points are up, it is a sign of a dry month, for it is 
said that it will hold all the w^ater 3 

If the point of the new moon hangs down there will be 
rain soon 3 


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If the new moon lies on its back, it is a sure sign that 
there will be rain that month. (This is true because 
the Indian has a place then to hang his powder horn 
while he is at home. When the Indian cannot hang 
his powder horn on the horn of the moon he goes 


hunting) 3 3 4 10 

A change of weather is likely to accompany a change of 

the moon 1 1 


If it rains at one time of the moon, all the rain during 

the year will occur at the same time of the moon 1 I 

Look at the new moon over your right shoulder, make a 
wish and repeat the following lines: 

4 ‘New moon, new moon, pray tell me who my 
husband is to be, the color of his hair, 

The clothes that he shall wear, and the day that 
he shall wed me. ’ ’ 

The wish will come true 

It will come true if on first seeing the new moon you 
repeat : 

“New moon, good moon, tell me, tell me true 
If my lover loveth me; if he do, let me see his 
face ; 

Tf he do not, let me see his back” 


1 


1 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


23 


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If you repeat the following lines on first seeing a new 
moon, your wishes wall come true: 

“New moon, new moon, fair and free, 

Tell me who my true love is to be: 

The color of his eyes, the color of his hair, 

The color of the clothes he now doth wear; 

Let him appear in my dreams tonight** 1 


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When you first see the new moon, take three steps back- 
ward, all the time looking at the moon, and repeat: 
“New moon, true moon, true and bright, 

If I have a true love, let me dream of him to- 
night. 

If I am to marry near, let me hear the cow 1ow t ; 
If far, let me hear the bird cry; 

And if never, let me hear the hammer knock** 


The one you dream of you are to marry 1 I 

% 

A ring around the moon means rain 2 6 4 12 


If there are rings around the moon, rain w r ill come in as 

many days as there are rings 1 1 

The number of stars in the circle about the moon indi- 
cates the number of days before the rain 8 5 5 18 


Stars. 


“A falling star signifies the death of some great man.” 
( Codrington . The Melanesians , their Anthropology and Folk- 
lore , p. 348.) 


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If you w r ish on the evening star, your wish wall come to 
pass 1 

If you w r ish upon seeing the first star that appears in the 
evening, the wish w T ill come true 24 

Speak to first star out at night and tell your wish, and 
it wall come true 1 


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When you see the first evening star, make a wish, throw 7 

a kiss at the star, and your w r isli w 7 ill come true 1 .... 1 

If you look at the first star in the evening and make a 

w 7 ish, not looking at it again, the w 7 isli will come true 3 .... 1 


4 


24 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 



A wish made on the first star at night will come true 
providing the wisher does not speak before being 


spoken to 


1 


1 


If you wish on the first star you see in the evening and 
then turn away and count five other stars before 
seeing the first one again, your wish w r ill come true .... 


1 1 


If you kiss your hand three times at the first star seen 
at evening, make a wish and avoid looking at any 


other star that evening, your wish wall come true 1 


1 


When you see the first star at night, look steadily at it 
while saying the following rhyme: 

‘ 1 Starlight, star bright, 

First star I’ve seen tonight; 

I wish I may, I wish I might 
Have the wish I wish tonight. ’ ’ 

Then make your wish and it will come true 17 7 3 27 

Say to the first star you see in the evening : 

Starlight, star bright, 

First star I’ve seen tonight; 

I wish I may, I wish I might 
Have the wish I wish tonight. ’ ’ 

Wish as you repeat this three times, and your wish 

will come true 2 2 

If you see only one star, and say: 

Star bright, starlight, 

First star I’ve seen tonight; 

I wish I may, I wish I might 
Have this wish I wish tonight ’ ’ 

over three times without looking from the star, and 
name your favorite poet and throw as many kisses 
at the star as you are old and not look at that star 

again that night, the wish will come true 1 .... 1 

On seeing the first star in the evening say: 

Starlight, star bright, 

First star I ’ve seen tonight ; 

Wish I may, wish I might 
Dream of my true love tonight.” 

Then pick up anything under your foot and place it 

under your pillow T 1 1 


Partial 

Belief 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


25 


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For three successive nights watch a star and make a 

wish, the same each night, and it will be granted 1 1 

If you see a star falling, it is an omen of ill-luck 1 1 

If you see a star falling, it is a sign that some one is 

dying 7 7 1 15 

If you see a star fall, you will soon hear of the death of 

a friend 1 1 

If a star falls, it is a sign that some one is dying and 

his soul is going to heaven 1 .... 1 2 

If you wish when you see a falling star, you will get 

your wish 5 8 1 14 

If you see a shooting star and can make a wish before 

it has entirely disappeared, your wish will come true 6 2 .... 8 

If you make a wish before you speak after seeing a 

shooting star, the wish will come true 1 .... 1 

If you can count ten while you see a shooting star, you 

w r ill get some money before the week is over 1 .... 1 

If you see a star fall and repeat the words 1 ‘ money, 
money, money, * 9 before it is out of sight, you Avill 
get some money 2 2 

If you can say ‘ ‘ Money before the week is out” before 
a falling star has disappeared, you will receive 
money before the w r eek is out 2 2 .... 4 

If a star dogs the moon, it bodes ill 1 1 

When a star falls, the direction it takes will indicate 

where a death is occurring 1 1 

Babies. 

Never pass anything over the baby’s head, or it won’t grow; 
but if such a thing happens, pull the hair on the top of its head 
upwards. ( Old German, See Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology.) 

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It will bring bad luck to a child to cut its nails during 

the first year of its life 1 1 

If a baby’s nails are cut before it reaches the age of 

one year, it will become a thief 5 5 


26 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


pq 

If a baby’s finger-nails are cut before it is one year old, 

it will be light fingered. The nails should be torn .... 1 1 

If you step over a child while it is lying on the floor, the 

child will not grow any more 1 1 

A new baby will die if named for a deceased baby 1 1 

If a baby falls out of bed, it will not be a fool 1 1 

If a child does not fall out of bed before it is a year 

old, it will die young 1 1 

The first object that a baby is attracted by will indicate 

the profession that he will follow 1 1 

If you allow a child to see its face in a mirror before it 

is a year old, it will not live through the year 4 4 

If a baby looks into a looking-glass before it is a year 

old, it will be a thief when grown up 1 1 

If a baby is pretty, it will grow up ugly; if ugly, it will 

become beautiful when grown up 1 1 

You must say “ God bless you! ” when a baby sneezes, 

or the fairies may get him 1 1 

Let the baby creep as much as it will, because all per- 
sons have to crawl a certain amount of time during 
life 1 1 

If a baby keeps its hands closed, it will be stingy when 

grown 1 1 

If you tie a piece of buckskin around a baby’s neck, it 

will not have the croup 1 1 

If a baby is gluttonous, it can be cured by being placed 

on a bread-shelf for a few T minutes 1 1 

If you change the baby’s name, it will die 1 1 

Cover a sleeping baby in black, and it will never grow 

to adult life I 1 

Never call a baby an angel, or it will die before the year 

is out 1 1 

If you rock the cradle when it is empty, the baby will 

die 1113 

If you kiss a baby’s feet, it will not live to walk on 

them 1 1 

Always take a baby up into the garret before it goes 

into the kitchen, or bad luck will follow 1 1 


Full 

Belief 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


27 


Birds. 

When birds are asked to make known the place where precious 
metals are hidden, they will always indicate where the richest 
mines are to be found. ( Ancient Greek. See Aristophanes, The 
Birds.) 


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pq 

If a bird flies against a window, there will be a death in 
the family 8 

When a bird flies through the window, it is bringing a 
message 

If a bird flies into the window, it is an ill omen 4 

If a bird flies in at your window, there will be a death 
in the family 11 

If a bird flies into the house, a death will occur in the 
family within one year 1 

If a bird flies into the house, some member of the family 
will die within a month 

If a bird comes into the house and sings, there will be 
a death in the family 1 

If a bird flies into a window and is caught, it means 
death to the person who catches the bird 1 

It is bad luck to have a bird fly into the house when any 
one is sick 1 

If a bird flies into a sick room, the person will die 

When a bird flies into a sick room and flutters over the 
sick person, the person will die 

It is a sign of death if a bird flies down the chimney 

If you see a flock of birds circling overhead, it is a sign 
of rain 1 

If a bird sings at night, some one in the family will 
be ill 

Tf you put salt on a bird’s tail, you can catch it 2 

If you see a bird make three circles in flying, you are 
sure to have bad luck 1 

If a bird flies three times around the head of a person, 
it means that person will die soon 


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28 University of California Publications in Education. [Tol. 5 


o> 

O iz 


If a bird gets a hair from your head and weaves it into 

its nest, your head will ache as long as the bird sets 1 1 


If you kill a bird that has young, you will be punished 

later by the young 1 1 

If a bird accompanies a ship upon a journey, it must 

not be killed, because a wreck will follow 1 1 


If a canary bird flies into a room and remains a long 

time, a death occurs in the family soon afterwards .... 1 1 

If a white pigeon roosts on the house, there will be a 


death there in less than a year 1 1 

If a white dove cooes over your house, you will have bad 

luck 1 .... 1 

The mourning of a dove near a house is an omen of 

death 1 1 

A dove flying in the house and cooing is the sign of 

death 1 1 

If a white dove should come to your door, any enterprise 

undertaken will be successful 1 1 

It is a sign of death if a white dove lights on your door- 
step 1 1 

If a white dove lights on the window-sill, it brings death 1 1 

If a thrush sings through the day, it is a sign of rain .... 1 1 


If you kill a brown thrush, you will have twenty years 


of bad luck 1 1 

Get in a tree while a cuckoo is crying, and you will get 

your wish 1 1 

It will bring you good luck to find the stone in a swal- 
low ’s nest 1 1 

A large flock of blackbirds signifies that a storm will 

soon follow 1 1 

To see a flock of blackbirds when you are starting on 

some errand means that you will be unsuccessful 1 1 

« 

If a magpie crosses your path when you are starting on 
a journey, go back and commence again, or you will 

have bad luck 1 1 

It is a sign of rain to see crows flying 1 .... 1 


Partial 

Belief 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


29 


>4-1 ® qj <h 

CD VD ^ •=, ^ 

0^3 'h 4) S'-' 

iz ® «e CQ £ «y 

^pq pu w ^pq 


Crows flying around a house indicate death or sickness 

which will soon follow 1 1 

[f three black crows fly over your house, it is a sign of 

bad luck 1 1 

See a flock of twenty or more crows, count them before 

they fly away, wish and your wish will come true 1 1 

When the whip-poor-will frequently calls near the house, 

it is a sign of misfortune to the inmates 2 2 

The cry of a whip-poor-will indicates the presence of a 

ghost 1 1 

To hear a bittern booming is a sign of bad luck 1 .... 1 

It is good luck to see a flock of wild geese flying up in 

the air 1 1 

If a flock of geese fly over the house, there will be a 

death in the family 1 1 

The flying of geese toward the south signifies rain 11 2 


When a flock of geese flies north, it is a sure sign of 
rain ... 

When the geese fly south, expect cold weather; when 
they fly north, expect warm weather 

If wild geese fly at night, it is a sign of rain 

If one sees a flock of wild geese flying high in the air 
or hears them, it is a sign of rain coming from the 
direction from which they are flying 

Should a hawk fly over the house, it means some one is 
coming to stay 

If storks build in the chimney, good luck will befall the 
inmates of the house 

If a sea-gull hovers round a vessel many miles from 


land, it is a bad omen 1 .... 1 

If the sea-gulls fly far inland, it is a sign there will be 

a storm at sea 1 1 

If an albatross is killed at sea, some harm will come to 

the ship which bears the destroyer of the bird 1 1 1 3 

Keeping ostrich feathers in the house brings ill-luck 1 1 


1113 
1 .... 1 

1 .... 1 

1 1 

1 1 


Totals 


30 University of California Publications in Education. [W>1. 5 



If you see a buzzard's shadow, you will shake hands 


with a stranger 1 — . 1 

If a lone vulture is seen in the sky, it means a visitor 

soon 2 2 

Make a wish when you see a lone buzzard, and if he 

flaps his wings three times it will come true 1 1 


Owls. 

When the night owl cries by day, a fire will break out. 
{German.) 


If you hear an owl hoot, it means trouble 1 1 

If an owl hoots at you, it means bad luck 2 .... 2 

The hooting of an owl is a sign of death 1 1 

If an owl hoots at night where one can hear it, it is the 

sign of death in the family 1 1 

If an owl hoots out 

The witches are about 1 1 

If an owl hoots around the house at night, it foretells 

death in the family 2 1 .... 3 

If an owl shrieks as she flies over the house, that house 

is in danger 1 1 

The hooting of a screech owl indicates the presence of 

the death angel 1 1 

If an owl comes into the house, bad luck will follow’ 1 1 

It is unlucky to have an owd about the house, wdiether it 

be alive or stuffed 1 1 

If you meet an owd, you wall soon learn something of 

great advantage to you 1 1 


Peacocks. 

“Mrs. S is a woman of unusual shrewdness and force of 

character, though somewhat illiterate. She is not religious. In 
fact I think she is quite skeptical on such questions. For at least 
four generations back her ancestors have lived in America. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


31 


“Sitting by the window one day, looking at a book which I 
had brought her, she came upon a peacock feather which I had 
placed in the book for a mark. As soon as she saw it, she threw 
the book out of the window, declaring that she would not have it 
in the house for anything. Upon my teasing her about such 
superstition, she said she didn’t care, and that she knew it was 
foolish, but there was ‘enough Irish blood’ in her to make it im- 
possible to keep the feather in the house. 

(Reported to me by a friend who is not inclined to exag- 
gerate. ) 





rf\ 


It is very bad luck to have peacock feathers in the house 6 





i 


CG 



6 13 


It will bring trouble to keep peacock feathers in a room 1 1 

If you sleep in the same room with peacock feathers, 

you will never be married 1 1 

Your house will surely burn down if you decorate it with 

«/ «/ 

peacock feathers 1 1 


To have peacock feathers on the wall as a decoration is 
a sign that the young ladies of the house will be old 
maids 1 1 


Chickens. 

‘ ‘ A whistling woman and a crowing hen 
Are neither fit for God nor men. * ’ 

(English. See Henderson’s Folk-lore , Sec. 1, p. 28.) 

‘ ‘ 111 thrives the haplesse Family, that showes 
A cock that ’s silent, and a Hen that crowes. ’ ’ 

(See Quarles’ History of Queen Esther, Sec. 3, Med. 3.) 


Good luck to have the rooster come to the door and crow 1 1 

If the rooster crows, company will come 1 1 

A rooster crowing incessantly indicates company is 

coming 1 1 .... 2 

If a rooster crows before the front door, you will have 

company 46 27 6 79 


University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


Q? 

O 4J * 

^ is 
W Ph w 

Jf the rooster crows in the door, it is the sign the min- 
ister is coming 1 

If a rooster stands on the doorstep and crows before 

breakfast, a visitor is coming 

If a rooster crows three times at the door in the morn- 
ing, company is coming before night 1 1 

If the rooster crows at the back door, some one is coming 6 4 

If a rooster crows on the back steps, you will have bad 
luck 1 

If a rooster crows in front of your door, it means death 
or bad luck for seven years 1 

If a rooster crows in front of the door, it is a sign of 
rain 1 

If a rooster crows with his tail toward the door, you will 

have a lady visitor 1 .... 

If a rooster crows with his head toward the door, you 
will have a man visitor 1 

If you see a rooster crowing on the fence or on a board, 

company is coming 2 

If a rooster crows on the gate-post, you will have com- 
pany 

If a rooster crows on the fence, it is a sign of clear 

weather 1 1 

If a rooster sits on a fence and crows, there will be rain 1 

If a rooster flies on the roof and crows, the house will 
take fire soon after 1 

Hear the rooster crow in morning is a sign company is 

coming 1 1 

If the chickens crow early in the morning, sign you are 
going to have hasty news 1 

If a rooster crows when he goes to bed, 

He’s sure to get up with a very wet head 1 1 

If a cock crows in the middle of the day, there will be a 
death in the family 1 

If a rooster crows during the night, it is a sign of a 
change in the weather 1 


12 


o 


9 


3 


Full 

Belief 


1907] 

Dresslar. — Superstition 

and Education. 


33 




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c n 



CD 

o is 


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PQ Eh 

Rooster 

crowing at night, a sign of death 

1 

— 

1 

If cocks 

crow before midnight, a storm is 

coming soon 1 

i 

1 3 


Roosters that crow in the middle of the night bring bad 


lack to the owners 2 2 

If the cock crows before 3 o’clock in the morning, it is 

the sign of a death 1 1 

If a cock crows at some unusual time, a death of some 

one you know will occur soon after 1 1 


It is bad luck for a hen to crow 

If a hen crows, it must be killed, or it will bring bad 


luck 1 .... 1 

It is a sign of danger for a hen to crow 1 .... 1 

Fighting hens foretell coming of lady . visitors 1 1 

When two hens fight, you may be sure to have company : 

either two enemies, or a man and his wife 1 .... 1 

It is good luck for a black hen to cackle 1 1 


If the chickens preen their feathers after a rain, the 
rain is over 

When the chickens stay on the ground and oil their 


feathers, it is going to rain 1 1 

If chickens walk about in the rain, it is a sign it will 

rain all day 1 1 

If chickens leave their shelter during a rain, it will con- 
tinue raining at least three days more 1 1 


Cats. 

When you would do evil to any one, kill a black cat, skin it 
and rub the skin to a very fine powder, and when it is triturated 
finely to a powder, mix with it pulverized liorse-scrapings and 
pepper and earth over which a toad has passed. Then repeat the 
long incantation which goes with it. ( Tuscan . Quoted from 

Leland, p. 290.) 


34 


University of California Publications in Education. tT°l. 5 






<U 

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If 

a strange cat comes to your house, 

it 

will bring good 





luck 

• 


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i 

11 

4 

22 

If 

a stray cat comes to your 

house, 

it 

will bring bad 





luck 



1 

4 

— 

5 

If 

a strav black cat comes to 

V 

your house, it will bring 





good luck 



12 

O 

O 

5 

20 


If a black cat comes to your house, it will bring bad 

luck 4 1 

If a black cat comes to your house, it is a sign of death 
in the family 3 

If a black cat comes to your house, all the girls in the 

family will be old maids 1 

*/ 

If a strange yellow cat comes to your house, it will 

bring good luck 

If a cat follows you, it will bring you good luck 2 

If a strange cat follows you, you will have bad luck 6 2 

If a cat follows you at night, it will bring you good luck .... 1 

If a black cat follows you, you will have good luck 13 4 

If a black cat follows you, you will have bad luck 5 1 

If a black cat follows you home, bad luck is coming to 
some one in your family 1 

If a black cat follows you, it is a sign of death in the 
family 1 

If a black cat follows you on a Friday night, bad luck 

will be the result 1 

If a gray cat follows you, it will bring you good luck .... 1 

To meet a black cat in one’s path means bad luck 1 1 

If a cat crosses your path, bad luck w T ill come to you 5 

A cat rushing by in front of you will cause danger on 
that journey 1 

If a cat runs across the path of a young couple, it means 
that they will be married some day 1 

It is bad luck for a black cat to cross the path in front 

of vou 28 9 


6 


9 

8 

1 

17 

6 


1 

1 


5 


42 


28 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


o 

£ 

If a black cat crosses one’s path in front of him, he will 
meet with danger 1 

If a black cat crosses your path, you will hear of bad 
news 

If a black cat crosses your path, there will be a death in 
the family ^ 3 

When a black cat crosses your path, it is a sign of good 
luck 4 

If a black cat crosses your path, your wish will come 
true 1 

If a black cat crosses your path at night, it is a sign of 
bad luck 3 

If a black cat crosses your path at night, you will have 
good luck 

It is bad luck to take the cat with you when you move .... 8 

It is bad luck to take the cat when you move, unless you 

wave it at some one of your friends when you start 1 

If you kill a cat, you will have bad luck 16 

If you kill a cat, you will have seven years of bad luck 6 

If you kill a black cat, you will have bad luck for seven 
years 1 

If a person kills a yellow cat, he will have bad luck for 
seven years 1 

If you kill a cat, you will have bad luck for nine years .... 1 

If you kill a cat, the devil will be set free 2 

A cat should be killed by hanging it by the tail; other- 
wise the evil spirit will escape and do you harm 1 

If you throw a cat overboard from a ship, it will cause 
a storm 1 

It will bring you misfortune to kill a black cat 2 

If you kill a black cat, it will bring death in the family .... 

If you own a black cat, you will have bad luck 4 

It will bring good luck to have a black cat 7 


Belief 


36 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


-2 o 

!D -p ^ 

£« 

If a black cat appears in a room at a wedding, it is a 
sign of coming trouble 1 

If you see three black cats in succession, you will have 

trouble 

If you will carry a black cat three times around the 
house on the first black night after New Year’s eve, 
it will insure you good luck all the year 1 

A black cat is the embodiment of the devil, and its 
glance will give one the evil eye 2 

A three-colored cat will bring good luck 1 

If a cat sits with its back to the fire, it will rain 1 

If a cat sleeps with its nose turned upward, it is a sign 

of rain 3 1 

When a cat’s fur stands straight up on its back, there 
will be a heavy storm 1 

If you see a cat washing its face, it is a sign of coming 

rain . 1 1 

If a cat lick herself against the grain, it will rain soon 1 

If a cat, in washing her face, rubs her paws over her 
ears, it is a sign of rain 1 

If a cat washes herself smoothly and slowly, it will be 
fair weather 1 

If a cat washes her face, it is a sign that company is 

coming 7 3 

If you see a cat washing her face, when she has not been 

eating, company is coming 

If you see a cat exactly in front of the door washing her 
face, you may expect company during that day 1 

If a cat washes her face, then stops and looks at one 
person in the room, the one looked at will be married 
first 1 1 

If you notice which direction a cat’s tail points, when 
she washes her face, it will tell you the direction the 
wind will blow * 1 

If you see a cat eating grass, it is a sure sign of rain .... 3 


2 

1 


5 


3 

1 


12 


1 

3 


Full 

Belief 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


37 


CD 



If a cat lies with its back to the tire, the weather will 
turn cold 


• — < 

C3 


«+-» m 



9 


o 


The playing of old cats foretells rain 1 1 

If a cat becomes unusually playful, there will be stormy 

weather soon 1 1 

If a cat scratches on the wall, it is the sign of an ap- 
proaching storm 1 1 


If a cat scratches at the door, it signifies that there will 
be a death in that house 


If a cat cries under the window, it will bring bad luck.... 1 1 

It is the sign of a death for a cat to get on the top of a 

house and cry and make much noise 1 1 

If a cat looks in at the window at night, it is the fore- 
runner of death 1 1 

If a cat sneezes, it will be lucky for a bride to be mar- 
ried next day 1 1 

If a cat sneezes three times, the whole family will suffer 

from influenza 1 .... 1 


If you rub the end of a cat’s tail on the eye, it will cure 

a sty 1 1 .... 2 

Rub the tail of a black cat over a sty, and it will dis- 
appear 1 1 


If you rub a black cat’s tail over a sore eye, it will 

effect a cure 2 2 

Any person who despises cats will be carried to his 

grave in a howling storm 1 1 

If you grease a cat’s feet, she will be sure to stay with 

you 1 .... 1 


Dogs. 


If a howling* dog* holds his head up, it means a fire; if down, 
a death. {German.) 


a> 




The howling of a dog signifies bad luck 1 

Dog howling is the sign of approaching trouble 1 


rr! 

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r , , *■‘■1 


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Eh 

1 


38 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


if a dog howls at night, some misfortune is at hand 

The howling of a dog is the sign of death 

The howling of a dog three times is a sign of death 

If a dog howls, it is a sign of death in the family 

If a dog howls all day long, there is sure to be a death 
in the family 

To hear a dog howl at night foretells bad luck, generally 
a death 

If a dog howls at night, some one is dying 

If a dog howls at night, some friend is dying 

If a dog howls at night, there will be a death soon 

If a dog howls at midnight, some one is dying 

If a dog howls, there will be a death in the neighbor- 
hood 

A dog howling at night means a death in the neighbor- 
hood 

If a dog howls after 9 p.m., it is a sign of death in the 
neighborhood 

A dog howling at midnight means that a friend of his 
master has died 

If a dog howls at night, some one of your relatives or 
friends is dying 

If the dog howls at midnight, there will be a death in 
the family 

If a dog howls at the front door of your house, it is an 
indication of bad luck 

The howling of a dog before the door, the sign of a 
death 

If a dog stands near your house and howls, you will hear 
of a death 

Dogs howling at the door are the sign of death in the 
family 

If a dog howls at night by your door, it is a sure sign 
of death 



r* *4H 


CO 

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75 

*3 

ri v 


-4-3 

o 

Eh 

1 

— 

— 

1 

7 

3 

3 

13 

1 

— 

— 

1 

17 

14 

9 

40 

1 

— 

— 

1 


o 




— j 

.... 


8 

6 

4 

18 

1 

— 

— 

1 

3 

8 

4 

15 

1 

— 

— 

1 

2 

3 

1 

6 


1 

— 

1 


1 

— 

1 

1 

— 

— 

1 

9 

1 

4 

14 

1 

• 

— 

1 

1 

— 

— 

1 


1 


1 


1 .... I 

112 4 

2 .... 2 4 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


39 


a> ^ — 

Z ® C3 QA 

fa fa W 


a> 


To have a dog howl before the door at midnight is a 
sign of coming death 

When a dog howls in front of the house for several 
nights in succession, a person in the house will die .... 

If a dog howls at night under one’s window, it means 
bad luck 

A dog howling under the window at night is a sign of 
coming calamity 

A dog howling under your bedroom window at night is 
the sign of a death 


If a dog howls before your window at night, you will 
hear of a death in the neighborhood 


fa ^ 
fa 


If a dog howls under your window for three consecutive 

nights, there will be a death in the neighborhood 1 

A dog howling near one’s window’ several nights in suc- 
cession signifies death 1 


If a dog howls under your window at night, you wall 

hear of the death of a friend 1 

If a dog howls under a window, it is a sign of death in 

the family 4 1 

The howling of a dog at night under your window is a 

sign of death in the family before the end of a year 1 

If a dog howls three times under a window, it is a sign 

of a death in the family soon 2 1 

If a person is sick, and a dog constantly prowls around 

the house and whines, that one wall die 2 3 

If a dog howls at midnight when some one is ill, it 

means that the patient will surely die 2 1 


If a dog hovds under a window in a room in which there 

is a sick person, it is a sign that that person wall die 1 1 


If a dog howls with his head tov r ard the ground, it is 

the sign of a death 1 

If a dog howls with his nose down, there will be a death 

in the family 1 

If a dog howls with his nose up, it is a sigu of fire 1 


9 


2 

1 


9 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 


D 


1 


3 


5 

3 


9 


1 

1 

1 


Totals 


40 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


If a dog bays at the moon, it is a sign that some one 


with whom you are acquainted is going to die 1 .... 1 2 

If a dog howls at the moon, a death will occur in the 

neighborhood 1 1 

If a dog howls at the moon, it is a sign of an approach- 
ing death in the family 1 1 


If a dog looks at you and howls, you are going to die .... 1 1 

A dog in the neighborhood always howls before the 


death of some one in the neighborhood 1 1 

Black dog howling, sign of death 1 .... 1 

When you hear a dog bark at night, it brings bad luck .... 1 1 

Dogs barking at midnight, sign of bad news 1 1 

If you hear a dog barking in the night, it is the sign of 

death 1 1 


If a dog comes to a strange house and barks at the door, 
something bad is going to happen to the family or 


people staying at the house 1 1 

It is good luck for a dog to follow you 1 1 

It is good luck to be followed by a yellow dog 1 1 

If a stray dog follows you, it is a sign of bad luck 1 .... 1 2 


If a white dog follows you before breakfast, you will 
meet with some misfortune or be disappointed in 


some way in the near future 1 1 

If, when driving, a bob-tailed black dog should follow 

you, it is good luck 1 1 

If you meet a dog coming toward you, or following you, 

you will have good luck 1 .... 1 

If a dog rolls, it is the sign of company 1 1 

If a dog lies on its back, it is going to rain 1 1 

If a dog eats grass, it is a sign of rain 5 12 8 

If a dog bites a person, the person will not be harmed 
if the dog be immediately killed. If the dog be 
allowed to live, all sorts of calamities will befall the 
one who was bitten 1 1 


Full 

Belief 


1907] Dresslar. — Superstition ancl Education. 41 

© P •- ~ © 7: 

® ^ 5-i ^ 3 P 5 

£ ® fa ® C 

If you bury a dog in the yard, some one will die 1 1 

If a dog has its picture taken, it will be sure to die 1 1 

If you kill a dog, you will have bad luck 1 .... 1 

Cows. 

If you creep between a cows fore legs, she will never lose a 
horn. (German.) 

I *** *♦— 1 l/l 

© ’-^ © ~ © '"S 

'z'v S'© £ '© c 

P! pH pq Eh 

If your cow dies, you will have bad luck for seven years 1 1 

If a white cow puts her head into the window and 

bawls, some one in the house is going to die 1 .... 1 

Sheep. 

If you meet a drove of sheep, you will have good luck 1 .... 1 

Swine. 

The first time pigs cross the threshold, make them jump over 
the wife’s garter, the man’s girdle, or the maid’s apron, and they 
will come home regularly. (German.) 

^ «►. * 

p © — © 'p 

l « 11 si 1 

If you meet a drove of pigs, it will bring you bad luck 1 1 

If swine cross your path, it is a sign of bad luck 1 1 

When the pigs squeal, it is going to rain 1 .... 1 

Horses. 

kk If there are white horses in the barn, good luck will come to 
the house. " (German. Wuttke, Aberglauben, p. 121.) 

'h* .2 © 'tr J£ 

^ _© *3 — .i it 

ffi H fi Eh 

If you see a white horse, you will have good luck 1 1 

3 3 


If you see a white horse and make a wish, your wish will 
come true 


42 


University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


•+-I 

• w * . 
• m w 

%- 

CO 

o 

-4-> •~ 



O * r ~ l 

is IS 


cZ 

^ 13 

aa 


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If you see a white horse among a band of horses, your 

last wish will come true 1 1 

If you make a wish when you see a spotted horse, your 

wish will come true 1 1 

If the first horse you see on Monday morning is a white 

horse, you will have bad luck 1 1 

If a horse can roll over three times, he is worth a hun- 
dred dollars 1 1 

If a horse rolls over before he has failed three times, 

good luck will come to his master 1 1 

If you see a white horse, you will see a red-headed 

woman 12 6 5 23 

If you see a white horse, a red-headed man will appear 1 1 .... 2 


“Marking” a hundred white horses means a lucky find 1 1 

If, when you see a white horse and a red-headed girl, 

you make a wish, it will come true '. 1 1 

If you see and “stamp” (by touching the fingers of 
one hand to the lips, and hitting that hand twice 
with the other one) one hundred white horses, with- 


out seeing a white mule, you will find something 1 1 

For every white mule you see, a red-headed girl will 

appear 1 1 

If 3 7 ou see a red-headed girl, you will at the same time 

see a white horse 2 .... 1 3 

If you meet white horses and red-haired girls, your fate 

has a surprise in store for you 1 1 

If you see two white horses, some one is near who has 

red hair 1 1 

If a white horse strays into your yard, one of the family • 

will die 1 1 

If you ride a horse over a frozen lake, you will < lie 1 1 

If you put a hair from the mane or tail of a horse in 

water, it will soon turn into a snake 5 5 

If you put a hair from the tail of a horse in water, it 

will turn into a hair-worm 1 1 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education . 


43 



If you pick up the skull of a horse and throw it over the 
right shoulder without looking behind you, you will 
never have the smallpox 1 



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1 


The following is a good rule by which to select a horse: 

One white foot, buy him ; 

Two white feet, try him; 

Three, look well about him; 

Four, go home without him ; 

If you add a white nose, 

Throw his body to the crows 1 .... 1 


If you see a colt coming head toward you, it is a sign of 
good luck 


1 


1 


Rabbits. 


If a hare crosses your path, it forebodes ill. ( Old English. 
Cf. Brand’s Antiquities, Chap. IX, p. 87.) 


It is good luck to carry a rabbit’s foot 



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A rabbit’s foot carried as a charm will prevent misfor- 
tunes from befalling you 5 


o 


A rabbit’s foot carried in the pocket will keep off evil 


spirits 1 

It will bring you good luck to wear a rabbit’s foot in 
your watchchain 1 

You wall have good luck if you carry the left hind foot 

of a rabbit 2 2 


1 

1 


If you carry a rabbit’s left hind foot in your pocket, 

you will never have rheumatism 1 1 

The hind foot of a jackrabbit, when obtained in the 
dark of the moon, brings good luck to the one who 

carries it 1 1 

If you carry the left fore-foot of a rabbit, in the lower 
left-hand vest pocket, it will bring good luck in 


horse-racing or lotteries 1 ] 

If you find the left hind foot of a rabbit in a grave- 
yard, you will be married before next Easter 1 1 


44 


University of California Publications in Education. IT°l. 5 


o> 
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The left hind foot of a rabbit killed in a graveyard in 
the dark of the moon will bring good luck 1 

A rabbit ’s foot taken from a rabbit in a graveyard at 
midnight by a negro will bring good luck 1 


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If you will get the left hind foot of a rabbit while the 
moon is shining over your left shoulder, and wear it, 

it will keep away bad luck 1 1 


A rabbit ’s tail will bring good luck 1 1 

If a rabbit sits on your doorstep, those who live in the 

house will be bewitched 1 I 


If a rabbit scampers across your path, it is a sign of 


happiness in the near future 1 I 

If a rabbit runs across your path, it is a bad omen 7 2 2 11 


If a rabbit crosses your path, you will have bad luck 

unless you go back and start again 2 2 

If a rabbit crosses your path behind you, it is a sign of 

good luck to you 1 1 

O €/ 


Rats. 


In Scotland, when rats become very numerous in the house of 
a peasant, a writ of ejectment in the following form is issued 
upon them, by being stuck up legibly upon the walls: 

Hatton and mouse, 

Lea the puir woman ’s house 
Gang awa’ owre by to ’e mill, 

And there ane and ye’ll get your fill. 

(See Chambers’ Popular Rhymes of Scotland , p. 339.) 


Kats are the forerunners of disease 


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I f the wood-rats build high, there will be a hard winter .... 


1 1 


1 0 S 


I f the rats leave a ship before it puts to sea, the ship 
will be lost 


1 


19071 


I) res slav. — Superstition and Education. 


45 


Frogs and Toads. 


If you kill a frog;, it will rain hard for three days. 


(Georgia.) 


© 


If you kill a frog, you’ll have bad luck 1 1 


If you kill a frog, it will surely rain 


If you kill a frog, it will make the cows give bloody milk 2 1 


When the frogs croak, it is a sign of rain 4 2 

A tree frog croaking is a sign of rain 1 


The croaking of frogs after a recent rain signifies there 
will be no more rain for the present 

If toads are seen hopping around in the daytime, there 


will be a rain soon , 1 

If a toad hops across your path, you will have bad luck 2 

If a toad hops across the road in front of you, you will 
have bad luck 1 

What you are doing when you hear frogs peep at first 
of the season, you will be doing all the year 1 

If the first frog you see in the spring of the year is sit- 


ting on dry ground, it signifies that during the same 
year you will shed as many tears as it would take for 


the frog to swim away in 1 

If you handle a toad, you will have warts on your hands 2 1 

The toad carries a jewel in its head 1 



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Fish. 


If you wish to catch fish, you must spit on your bait. (Middle 
States.) 


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Goldfish bring bad luck 1 1 

A “ sheep’s eye-stone,” from a fish’s head, is the luck- 
iest thing in the world to carry with you 1 1 

You should keep the lucky bone from a fish’s head for 

good luck 1 .... 1 


46 University of California Publications in Education . [ Vo1 - 


o 



A shark’s tail upon a bowsprit will keep off bad spirits .... 

If a shark follows a vessel, some one is going to die 3 

It is the sign of good luck to find a pearl in an oyster .... 1 


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Crickets. 


Crickets were much esteemed by the ancient magicians. 
Pliny's Natural History , Book 29, Chap. 39.) 



If a cricket comes into the house, it will bring good luck 

If a cricket conies and stays around the hearth, it will 
bring good luck 

If a cricket sings in the house, good luck is sure to 
follow * 

If a cricket sings in the house, there will be a death in 
the family 

If the crickets sing a great deal, it is a sign of rain 

It will bring bad luck to kill a cricket 

If you kill a cricket, it will bring you great misfortune 

The killing of crickets will drive peace and good fortune 
from the house 

If you kill a cricket, some one of your relatives will die 

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Spiders. 


“I took early in the morning a good dose of elixir, and linng 
three spiders about my neck, and they drove my ague away, — 
Deo Gralias." (See Brand’s Antiquities, p. 93. From the Diary 
of Elias Athmole, Esq., 1681.) 


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If you kill a spider, you will have bad luck . 
If you kill a spider, you will always be poor 
If you kill a spider, it will cause rain 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstitio n and Ed uca tion 


£ 


If you kill a black spider, you will have bad luck 1 

If you kill a white spider, you will have bad luck 1 

If a spider crawls across the floor, it is a sign of good 
luck 1 

If a spider comes toward you, you will receive a letter 1 


If a spider drops down in front of you, you are going to 
receive a letter 3 

If a spider drops from the ceiling in front of me, it will- 
bring me good luck 

If you see a black spider coming toward you, you will 
get a letter 

If you see a black spider, you will get a letter from a 
dark eomplexioned person 

If you see a spider in the afternoon, it means bad luck 1 

If a spider drops near you, it is a sign that you are to 


get money soon 1 

It is good luck for a spider to get on your clothing 1 

If you see a spider on your clothing, it means that you 
are to have new garments 4 

If a spider is found on one’s clothing, a visitor may be 
expected 1 

If you put a “money-spider” in your pocket, you will 
receive some money before long 


If a little “money-spider” is seen walking on your 
clothing, riches will come to you, if the spider is not 
killed 


Spiders are money spinners, and bring you good luck .... 1 

If a spider weaves his web in front of you, you will re- 
ceive a letter 1 

If a spider spins one thread from the ceiling and then 
runs up it, it is a sure sign of death in the family .... 1 

If you catch a spinning spider and swing it three times 
around your head, it will bring you good luck 

If you put a spider in a nutshell and wear it around 
your neck, it will cure a fever 


5 


Belief 


48 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


<x> 

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A spider put into a nutshell and worn around the neck 
will keep away and cure diseases 1 

Spider webs in the house are' signs of bad luck to the 
occupants 1 

1 f there is a spider web in the room, there will be no 
kissing 

If girls do not keep the house free from cobwebs, they 
will never get married 1 

If you will sweep down a cobweb hanging directly over 
you, you will get a new beau 1 

Cobwebs in the grass in the morning indicate rain before 
night - 


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Snakes. 


It will prevent serpents from biting* you if you annoint your 
body with the berries from the juniper tree. (Pliny’s Nat. Hist., 
Book 24, Chap. 36.) 


If you step over a snake in the road, you will have bad 

luck 

If you step on the track of a snake, you will have bad 
luck 

If a snake crosses your path, it is a sign of death 

It means bad luck to see a snake-track across your path 

Never cross over a snake-track in your path until you 
have made a wish. Your wish will then come true .... 

If you see a snake-track, make a wish and spit on it. 
Your wish will then come true 1 


Spit on a snake-track before crossing it, and make a 
wish. The snake will never bite you, and your wish 
will come true L 1 


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If you kill a snake, its mate will bite you 

To kill snakes is the sign of good luck 

If you kill a snake, you will conquer your enemies 


1 


1 


1 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


49 


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If you are successful in killing the first snake you come 
across in the spring, the year will bring you good 

luck 1 1 

If you kill a snake at the beginning of the year, you 

will conquer all your enemies during the year 6 1 1 8 

If you hang a snake on a tree, it will bring you bad luck 1 1 


If you turn a snake on its back when it is killed, it will 


bring rain 1 1 

Hanging a snake on a fence will bring rain 1 1 


If, after killing a snake, you hang it on a tree, it will 
rain soon. The longer the snake, the heavier will be 

the rain 1 .... 1 

If you hang a rattle-snake over a log on its back, rain 

will follow in three days 1 1 

The wearing of a rattle-snake skin will keep away dis- 
ease 1 1 


If you wear rattle-snake rattles in your hair, they will 

prevent you from having the headache 2 2 

The dust in the rattles of a rattle-snake will cause blind- 
ness 1 1 

If one looks intently at a snake, his eyes will become 

like a snake’s eyes 1 1 


Lizard. 

A lizard’s tail will bring good luck 


1 1 


Turtle. 

A snapping turtle will not let go until it thunders 2 2 

Other Animals and Insects. 

“If a person is hungry and sings a wolf-song, he is likely to 
find food. Men going on a hunting trip sing these songs for 
luck. ’ ( Blackfoot Indians. See Blackfoot Lodge Tales, Grin- 

ned, p. 261.) 

“On the death of the master, or indeed of any member of his 
family, the bees will desert their hives, unless some one takes the 


50 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


house-key, raps with it three times on the board that supports the 
hives, informs the bees what has taken place, and fastens a bit of 
crape to the hive. ” 

(From Henderson 7 s The Folk-lore of the North Counties of 
England, p. 266.) 


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To hear wolves howl at night when one is ill brings bad 
luck or death 1 

A white deer has in his stomach a stone that will cure 
snake bite 1 


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An opossum which has been killed on the ground should 
not be cooked with sweet potatoes, for harmful re- 
sults would follow 1 1 


It is bad luck for a bat to come into a room at night 

If a bat comes into a room, it is a sign of death 

If a black animal crosses your path, you will have bad 
luck 



1 .... 1 


When the fur of the foxes or of other wild animals is 

thicker than usual, the winter will be especially cold 1 1 

When on a journey, if you see a squirrel run to the left, 
you will have bad luck; if to the right, good luck 1 

When one sees a dead animal, the taste of it will be in 
his mouth next meal, unless he spits nine times suc- 
cessively 1 

If a bee comes into the house, a stranger is going to 
come 1 

“News bees’ 7 buzzing near your head signifies good 

news; near your feet, bad news 1 

Bees will leave their hives when one of the family dies .... 1 

«/ 

WTien the master of a house dies, unless the bees are 

told, they will all leave their hives 1 

If a bee flies in at a window, and about the room, it is a 
sign that a letter from a distance will be received 
containing news 1 

If a bumble-bee flies in at the window or open door, 
company is coming, and the time it will take for the 
bumble-bee to get out will measure the stay of the' 
visitors 1 


9 


1 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 


1 


1 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


51 


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When the ‘ ‘ death-watch ’ ’ ticks it is a sure sign of 
death 


If a measuring worm crawls over your dress, it means 

that you are to have a new one soon 3 3 

If you see a skeleton moth flying around the house, there 

will be a death 3 1 .... 4 

If a butterfly alights on you, it is a sign of a letter 1 .... 1 

A white butterfly crossing your path in the spring means 

that you will have success in all undertakings 1 1 

Frost will occur within six weeks after hearing the first 

katydid sing 1 1 

The insect which is called the devil ’s darning needle can 

sew up your ears 1 1 


If you have lost something, catch a grand-daddy-long- 
legs, and tell him about your loss. His front feet 
will then point in the direction in which you are to 

hunt 1 1 

If you catch a grand-dadcly-long-legs, and ask him for 
the cows, he will point the direction in which you will 


find them 1 .... 1 

If an ant-heap gathers in your house, it signifies coming 

wealth, but you may destroy the nest 1 .... 1 


If there are little piles of dirt around the ant’s nests, 
the day will be fine, for the ants have dared to open 

their houses 1 1 

Repeat : 

‘ ‘ Doodle-bug, doodle-bug ! 

Come out of vour hole . y . ’ 

If he comes out, it means that something you desire 

will be granted; if he does not, it will not be 1 1 

Chairs and Tables. 

Tin *ee chairs accidentally placed in a row mean death. 
( Middle States.) 


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University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 



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If two chairs accidentally come back to back, a visitor 

will come 5 117 

If two chairs are found back to back, there will be com- 
pany for the family that day 1 1 

If two chairs are placed back to back unintentionally, 

you will have unexpected company 1 .... 1 

A visitor will come if a chair is upset 1 1 

It is bad luck to rock an empty rocking-chair 1 .... 1 2 

Rocking an empty rocking-chair means illness or death 

to the next one sitting in it 1 1 

If you rock an empty rocking-chair, the person that sits 

in it next will die within a year 1 1 


If you go into a room where no one has been and find 
the rocking-chair rocking, there will be a death in 


your family 1 1 

If a circle of chairs is left standing unconsciously, the 

first person that enters the circle will die 1 1 

It brings trouble to upset a chair 1 1 

If when rising from the table your chair falls over back- 
ward, you will have bad luck 1 I 

If you tip over a chair, it is a sign that you will not get 

married that year 6 2 19 

If one knocks a chair over in rising from the table, he 

will not marry for seven years 1 1 

If you tip over a piano stool, you will not be married 

this year 1 I 

If when playing cards you get up and walk around your 

chair, you will have good luck 1 1 

If, when playing cards, you will change chairs, or walk 

around your own three times, you will have good luck .... 1 .... 1 

If you whirl a chair around on one leg, it will bring you 

bad luck 2 .... 1 3 

If a child whirls a chair around on one leg, he will have 

a whipping before night 2 2 

To whirl a chair around on one leg is a sign of death .... 1 .... 1 2 


1907 ] 


D) • esslar . — Superstition and Education. 


53 


Twirling a chair will cause the death of a member of 
the family 

Never allow a person to put his foot on the round of 
your chair, for it would bring a dire calamity on you 

If one sits on the table, he will not be married this year 

If a girl sits on the table, it is a sign that she wishes to 
get married 



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Clock. 


If a clock stops before its wheels have run out, some one 

you know has died 1 1 

The clock will stop the night before a person dies 1 .... 1 

If a clock stops while persons are in the room, it is sure 

to bring disaster to one of them 1 1 

If an old clock that has not been going for a long time 

commences to tick or strike, it is a sign of death 1 1 

Lf the clock strikes twelve while you are at table, you 

will hear of a death 1 1 


Looking at the clock on entering the school-room is a 

sure sign I will be called to recite 1 


1 


Mirrors. 


In parts of South Germany it is thought that if a person sees 
his image in a mirror after a death he will die himself. So the 
mirrors are covered up or turned to the wall. 


If you break a mirror, misfortune will come upon you .... 

It is the sign of death to break a looking-glass 

If you break a mirror, it is a sign of a death in the 
family 




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If the mirror be broken, there will be a death in the 
family within a year 10 


15 


54 


University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 


5 


To break a mirror means death in the family within the 
next seven years 

If you break a mirror, you will have bad luck 

If you break a looking-glass, you will have bad luck for 
seven years 

If you set a lamp on the bureau, and as a result the 
mirror is broken, bad luck will follow you all your 
days , 

It is very unlucky to break a mirror, unless it is an ex- 
pensive one, and you have to pay for it 

If a looking-glass, which has been in the family for 
many years, is broken, it will bring bad luck to the 
family and usually a death 

If a looking-glass is broken, ill-luck will follow for sev- 
eral years 

If one breaks a looking-glass, he will have bad luck for 
seven years and one of the relatives will die 

If you break a looking-glass while moving, you will have 
bad luck 

It is bad luck to break a mirror; but if a five-dollar 
piece is found afterward, the spell of bad luck will 
be broken 

It is bad luck for one person to look into a looking-glass 
over the shoulder of another 

It means immediate disappointment for two persons to 
look into a mirror at the same time 

If two persons standing side by side look into a mirror 
together, they will quarrel soon 

If two people look into a mirror, one over the shoulder 
of the other, one of them will die before the year 
closes 

If a baby looks into a mirror before it is a year old, it 
will die within a year 

I f a baby looks into a mirror before it is a vear old, it 
will never wear wedding clothes 


No 

Belief 

Partial 

Belief 

Full 

Belief 

Totals 

1 

— 

— 

1 

14 

14 

o 

30 

48 

49 

16 

113 


— 

1 

1 

1 

— 

— 

1 


1 

— 

1 


1 

— 

1 


1 

— 

1 

1 

— 

— 

1 

1 

— 

— 

1 


— 

1 

1 

1 

— 

— 

1 

1 

— 

— 

1 

2 

— 

— 

o 

1 

3 

7 

11 

1 



1 


If children are allowed to look into a mirror before their 
ears are pierced, they will die soon 


3 


3 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education . 


55 


It will bring bad luck to look into a broken mirror 

To look into a mirror after dark brings trouble 

If you look into a looking-glass immediately before get- 
ting into bed, you will be chased by ghosts all night 


No 

Belief 

Parti a 
Belief 

Full 

Belief 

Totals 

1 

— 

— 

1 

2 

— 

— 

2 

1 



1 


If one crosses a bridge and looks down at his own re- 
flection in the water, his first child will die 


If a casket is reflected in a mirror, there will be another 
death real soon 


If you hold a mirror over a well on the first day of May, 

you will see something very unusual 1 


1 


Spoons. 

When a rival wishes to gain the affection of another woman ? s 
husband, she secretly takes two spoons from her, binds them to- 
gether, and buries them. As the thongs decay and the spoons 
separate, the bonds of affection will decay. {Turkey.) 


Q5 


Dropping a spoon is the sign of a quarrel 

Dropping a spoon signifies company 

If you drop a spoon, a child is coming 4 

If you drop a spoon, a girl will call 1 

If you drop a spoon, the minister will call 1 

If you get two teaspoons in a cup, it is a sign that com- 
pany is coming 1 


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Two spoons accidentally placed at your plate means a 
marriage 1 

If two spoons are accidentally placed in the same cup, it 
signifies a wedding will soon take place in the family 2 


1 

4 


If by mistake two spoons are put into your cup, you will 
have two husbands 1 


1 


Two spoons at one saucer means that some one is coming 
hungry 


1 


1 


56 University of California Publications in Education . [Vol. 5 


OJ 





If you accidentally take two spoons from the spoon- 
holder at the same time, you will get an invitation 
to a wedding soon 1 


(A 

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1 


If you spill the spoons, it is a sign that company is 
coming 


1 


Knives and Forks. 


He who lets liis knife or fork fall while eating should eat no 
more, else his digestion will be bad. ( German . See Wuttke, 
Aberglauben, p. 290 [2].) 


OJ 


c ^ 



If two knives or forks are found at one plate, there will 
be a marriage in the family soon 4 



If you find two forks at your plate, you will not be mar- 


ried that year 1 1 

Two knives at one plate is the sign of a funeral 1 .1 


If two forks or knives are accidentally placed at your 

plate, it means death to some one of your family 1 .... 1 

Crossed knives means a fight or a quarrel 1 1 .... 2 

If a knife and a fork are reversed at a plate, there will 

be a quarrel 2 2 


Two knives, two foes, 

Two forks, two beaux 1 1 

Two knives at one place indicates two wives 1 1 

If you put two forks at one place on the table, you will 

have two husbands 2 .... 1 3 


If you drop a knife, a man is coming to see you; a fork, 

a lady; a spoon, a child 4 4 

If you drop a knife, your beau will come ; a fork, your 

aunt ; a spoon, a friend 1 1 

If you drop a fork, the prongs will point toward the 

home of your lover 1 1 

If you let a butcher-knife fall on the door, you are going 

to have a quarrel with a woman 112 


1907] 

Dresslar . — Superstition and Education. 


57 


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If two forks are put at one place on the table, two 
ladies will call 1 

If two forks are put at one place, two gentlemen will 
call before night 1 

If two knives or forks are put at one place, there is 
going to be a wedding ... r. 7 

You will have bad luck if you drop a fork upon the floor 1 

If you drop a knife, or fork, or spoon, you may expect 
company 18 

If you drop a knife or a fork, some one is coming for 
dinner 2 


To drop a knife means that you will have a gentleman 
caller 




If you drop a knife, a woman is coming 23 

To drop a fork is the sign that a gentleman is coming .... 26 
If you drop a fork, it means a lady is coming to see you 14 

If you drop a fork, a gentleman will call ; a knife, a 

ladv 13 

«/ 

If you drop a knife, expect a gentleman caller; a fork, 
a lady 7 

If a knife is dropped, some one is coming ; if a fork, 
some one is going away 


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26 


28 


31 

47 

28 

21 

8 


Pointed Instruments. 

A man must on no account give his betrothed a knife, or pair 
of scissors, for it will cause trouble between them. (Swedish.) 


Anything having a sharp point given to a friend breaks 
friendship 

If you drop a pointed instrument and it strikes in the 
floor, you will have good luck ' 


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3 


9 


If a sharp pointed instrument be dropped accidentally 
and it sticks in the floor, some one is coming whom 
you wish to see but you will be out 1 


1 


58 


University of California Publications in Education. I V()1 - 


5 




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If a needle sticks in the floor, you will get a letter 1 

If you drop a needle or any pointed thing on the floor 
and it sticks straight up, you will have company 

If you drop the scissors and the points stick into the 
floor, it is the sign of good news 7 

To break a needle brings disappointment 

If you break a needle while making a dress, you will 
have bad luck as long as the dress lasts 1 

If the needle be broken in making a dress, the dress will 
be worn at a wedding 3 

If you break a needle in sewing a garment, you will be 
kissed when you wear the garment 1 


3 

6 

1 


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3 

15 

1 


3 


If you break a needle while making a garment, you will 

be married before the garment wears out 1 1 

If you break a needle Avhile making a garment, the 

owner will never live to wear it out 2 2 


I f a pair of scissors be dropped and stick into the floor, 
the loose end points the direction from which a vis- 
itor is coming 1 .... 1 

If you drop a knife and it sticks in the floor or ground, 
it is a sign that some one is coming from the direc- 
tion in which it leans 2 2 

If a pen sticks into the floor when dropped, company 


is coming from the direction toward which the pen 

points 1 1 

If you give to a friend, as a present, a knife, or any 

edged instrument, it will cut your friendship 24 33 32 89 


Presenting a sharp instrument of any sort to a friend 
will cut the friendship, unless a new penny is sent to 
the giver by the recipient 4 1 .... 5 

If you accept a sharp instrument of any kind from a 
friend, it will break your friendship, unless you give 
in return a penny that must be kept always by the 


friend 1 .... 1 

If you present a person a knife, he will become your 

enemy 1 1 

It is bad luck to find a knife or a razor 1 .... 1 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


59 


Pins. 


{England.) 




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If you pick up every pin you find, you will have good 
luck 


5 


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If you see a pin and do not pick it up, it will cause bad 

luck 12 2 


15 


If you see a pin and let it lie, 
You’ll want a pin before you die 


o 


See a pin, let it lie, 

Come to sorrow bye and bye 1 1 

If you see a pin and let it lay, 

You’ll need that pin another day 1 .... 1 

See a pin and pick it up, 

All the day you ’ll have good luck 22 14 .... 36 


See a pin and pick it up, 

All the day you’ll have good luck; 

See a pin and let it lay, 

You’ll have bad luck all the day 42 24 11 77 


See a pin and pick it up, 

All the day you ’ll have good luck ; 

But see a pin and let it lie, 

You’ll come to need it bye and bye 2 .... 2 

See a pin and pass it by, 

You ’ll remember it till you die 1 1 


To find a pin with the point toward you is good luck 32 30 

To find a pin in the morning with the point toward you 

is the sign of good luck 1 

Picking up a pin whose point is toward you is a sign of 
bad luck 4 

If you pick up a pin lying with head toward you, it will 
bring good luck to you 5 

If you see ^ pin with point toward you, and do not pick 
it up, you will have bad luck 


69 

1 


6 


o 


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1 


60 University of California Publications in Education . [Vo\. 5 


You will have sharp luck if you see a pin with the point 

toward you 1 3 .... 4 

If you pick up a pin with its point toward you, it will 

insure you the good wishes of a new friend 1 .... 1 

If you find a pin pointing towards you, you will hear 

sharp news 1 ] 

If you find a pin with its point toward you, it means an 

enemy ; if the head is toward you, it signifies a friend 1 1 

If you find a pin pointing toward you, you will soon 
make a friend; if the head is toward you, you will 

lose a friend 1 .... 1 


If you see a pin pointing toward you, some one is think- 
ing of you 1 .... 1 

If you see a pin pointing toward you, as you walk along, 

it means a buggy-ride 1 1 

If you see a pin pointing toward you, you have a friend 
in the direction you are facing; if the head is toward 


you, there is an enemy in front of you 1 1 

If you pick up a pin that lies point toward you, and 

make a wish, the wish will come true 1 .... 1 

If a pin sticks out straight from your clothing, some one 

wants to see you 1 .... 1 

If a pin is sticking in your clothing so the head stands 

out from your body, you will hear good news 1 1 

Picking up a crooked pin brings bad luck 1 .... 1 

When picking up a pin say 11 Money before the week is 

out, ’ ’ and you will receive money during the week .... 1 1 

If you lose a pin, you lose a friend 1 1 

Never give a pin to a friend, for it will break the friend- 
ship 1 3 .... 4 

Never use black pins in a baby’s dress, for they will 

cause sorrow 1 1 


Partial 

Belief 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


61 


Hairpin. 


When a hairpin drops out of your hair, your lover is thinking 
about you. ( Middle States.) 


To find a liairpin is the sign of good luck 


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Finding a hairpin brings a new friend 

If you find a hairpin, it is a sign that you will get a 


letter 2 3 

If you find a hairpin, you are going to have a buggy- 

ride 1 1 

If you find a hairpin, and hang it up on a tree, you will 

have good luck 1 


in 

73 

0 

1 


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9 


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If you find a hairpin and hang it on a nail, the first 
person you speak to afterward will marry you 1 

A hairpin found, bent double and thrown over your left 


shoulder, will bring a friend 1 

You will have good luck if on finding a hairpin pointing 
toward you you throw it over your shoulder and can- 
not see it on looking around 1 

If you lose a hairpin, you will lose a friend 4 1 

If a hairpin tumbles out and you lose it, you will lose 
your best fellow' 1 

If you find a hairpin, you will have a bid to a party 2 

Pick up a hairpin, and you wall have an invitation by 
next mail 1 

Finding a rusty hairpin means an invitation 1 3 

If you pick up a hairpin with the points toward you, it 

is a sign that an invitation wall be received 1 1 

Picking up a hairpin wdth the bow toward you is a sign 
of a gentleman caller 1 

Find a hairpin : 

Points a foe, 

Ends a beau, 

Sides a buggy ride 1 


1 

1 


1 

5 


1 

9 


1 

4 

2 

1 


1 


Every hairpin a girl finds represents a lover 


1 


1 


62 


University of California Publications in Education. [ Vol. 5 


If a hairpin slips out, some one is thinking of you 


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If a hairpin begins to slip out of a young lady’s hair, it 
is a sure sign that her lover is thinking of her 4 


6 


Comb. 


The comb and knife that have combed and shaved a dead man 
shall be put in his coffin; or the hair of those who use them will 
fall off. ( German . See Grimm.) 


To drop a comb brings bad luck 

If you comb your hair after dark 
You will comb sorrow to your heart 


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Umbrella. 


It is strictly forbidden to wear shoes or to carrv an umbrella 

«/ «/ 

in a mine from which the tin-ore has not vet been removed. 


{Malay. See Malay Magic , Skeat, p. 256.) 


To open an umbrella in the house brings bad luck 

To open an umbrella in the house brings death to some 

one of the family 

%/ 

If you open an umbrella in the house, you will never be 
married 

If you open an umbrella in the house, you will have bad 
luck during the year 

If you 02 )en an umbrella over some one’s head in the 
house, that one will have bad luck 

If an umbrella is opened in the house, the one who is 
under it will die soon 

If you 02 >en an umbrella in the house, there will be a 
death in the family within a year 

(gening an umbrella in the house is a sign of death in 
the family within five years 


No 

Belief 

Partial 

Belief 

Full 

Belief 

Totals 

61 

21 

6 

88 

25 

8 

1 

34 


1 

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1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education 


63 


pq ^pq E- 

If one opens an umbrella in the house, it will rain 2 2 

If you open an umbrella in the house, it will rain ; but 
if you will quickly thrust it out of the window and 

open it again, it may ward off the rain 1 1 

If you open a black umbrella in the house, some one of 

the family is to die soon 1 .... 1 

If you lay an umbrella on the bed, you will have bad 

luck 1 1 2 

Laying an umbrella on a bed denotes death 1 1 

If a couple get married under an open umbrella, they 

will have good luck 1 1 

Candles. 

Candles burn with a blue light when spirits are about. (Old 
English . ) 

V. ^ V- cc 

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If the tallow of a burning candle runs over so as to 
form ice ridges on it, a death will soon occur in the 
house - 1 1 

A lighted candle placed on a bed is a sure sign of death 

to the person who occupies it 1 1 

If three candles are burning in a row, it is a sign of 

death 1 1 

If there is a sparkling in the candle, you will receive a 

letter 1 1 

If a candle flashes back, after you have blown it out, it 

is a sign of bad luck 1 1 

Match. 

- ^ .2 ~ .2 73 

£ A ST r f £ c 

p - 1 pu cc cq 

If you hold a match until it burns entirely out, your 

wish will come true 1 ] 

If you can keep a match in your hand unbroken until it 

is entirely burned out, your lover is true to you 1 1 


64 University of California Publications in Education. I Vol. 5 


o 
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Light a match, hold it between the thumb and index 
finger until it goes out, and it will point in the direc- 
tion of the home of your future husband or wife 1 


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Tea-kettle. (See Tea and Coffee.) 


When the water quickly boils away from the kettle, it is a 
sign of rain. (Eastern States.) 

If the tea-kettle sings, it will rain ... 

If the tea-kettle sings and the steam curls up toward the 


ceiling, it is a sign of rain 1 .... 1 

If one forgets and leaves the tea-kettle lid off, it is a 

sign of company 1 1 

The watched pot never boils 1 1 


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Brooms and Sweeping. 

If you sweep your floor directly after visitors have left, it will 
bring them bad luck on their journey. (Lithuanian.) 


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If you step over a broom, you will have bad luck 2 

To step over a broom, without picking it up, is bad luck 1 

If you step over a broom, you will have bad luck unless 
you step over it again backwards 1 

If you step over a broom that is lying on the floor, it is 
a sign that there is soon to be a death in the family 2 

If you step over a broom, you will never get married .... 1 

If you step over a broom, you will not get married for 

a year 2 

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When moving to another house, never take a broom with 


you, for it is a sign of bad luck 5 2 10 17 

I t is bad luck to take an old broom when moving 1 .... 1 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education . 


65 


O -2 
£ O 


Never take a new broom with you when you move, for it 
will make bad luck 


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When you move never take a new broom with you, for it 


is the sign of death 1 1 

If the broom falls across the door, company is coming .... 4 4 

If you take a broom with you when going on a camping 

trip, you will have bad luck 1 1 


If one sweeps the dirt from the house out at the door, he 


sweeps out the luck 2 2 

If in sweeping a broom straw is left behind on the floor, 

it means that some one is coming 1 .... 1 

If while sweeping the broom makes a long streak on the 

floor, company may be expected 1 .... 1 

If you sweep a house after sundown, you will have bad 

luck 3 2 5 


If you sweep after dark, you will sweep all of your luck 


away 1 1 2 

If you sweep after dark, you sweep sorrow to yourself .... 1 1 .... 2 

Do not allow a person in sweeping to sweep the dust on 

you, for you will then marry an old person 1 1 

If you step over the dirt another person lias swept up, 

you will have a quarrel 112 


Dish Rag and Handkerchief. 


If the newly wedded wife wishes not to be homesick when be- 
ginning housekeeping, let her carry to her new home a bit of her 
mother 's dish rag. ( German . See Grimm, op. cit.) 


If you drop the dish rag, you will have company 

If you drop a dish rag, some one is coming hungry 

If you drop the dish cloth, some one is coming to dine 
with you 

[f you drop the dish cloth and it does not spread out, it 
is the sign a gentleman is coming 



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66 University of California Publications in Education. D r °l. 5 



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If you drop the dish rag, some one is coming dirtier 

than you 7 7 

If you drop a dish rag, it is a sign that a woman is 

coming 1 1 

If you hang the dish rag across the back of a chair, 

some one will come 1 1 .... 2 

If you drop a white tea towel, a light-complexioned 

person will come 1 1 

If you drop the stove rag, a dark-complexioned person 

is coming 1 1 

If you drop your dish cloth and it falls spread out, your 

caller will be a slouch 1 1 

If you drop a dish rag in the morning, you will surely 

have company before the day has finished 1 .... 1 

If a dish rag is dropped, a quarrel will follow 1 1 

If you drop a dish cloth, you will have kitchen callers .... 1 1 

If you drop a dish rag, a tramp will come 1 1 

If you drop a dish cloth and it falls in a heap, you will 

have nice callers 1 1 

Drop a dish cloth and the number of cracks it covers 

indicates the number of people coming 1 1 

If you drop a dish cloth, it is a sign some one is thinking 

about you 1 1 

If you drop your handkerchief, it is a sign you will get 

a letter 1 .... 1 


Garden Tools. 


When cattle are first driven out in the spring, axes, saws, and 
other iron tools are laid before the stable door, so that the cattle 
will step over them ; this will prevent the cows from being be- 
witched. ( Thuringia . See Grimm, Teutonic Mythology.) 


0) 


To carry a hoe, rake, or spake through the house will 


bring bad luck 4 

To bring a hoe in the house is a sign of death 1 



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1907 


D res star. 


Superstition and Education. 


67 


To carry a hoe, spade, or shovel through a house indi- 
cates that some evil will befall some member of the 
family 1 


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If any kind of a garden tool such as a hoe, spade, rake 
is taken through the house, it signifies death in the 
family r. 13 9 7 29 


There is a belief that a hoe carried into the house will 
bring about the death of a member of the family 

within a year 1 .... 1 

V 


Carrying a shovel through the house — bad luck 1 1 

To bring a shovel in the house is a sign of death 1 1 

Carrying an ax through the house will bring bad luck .... 1 1 


Carrying an ax through the house will cause some mem- 
ber of the family to die soon 1 


1 


If one takes farming implements into the house, he 
should take them out the same door to prevent bad 
luck 1 

If a hoe is carried into the house through one door, it 
should be taken out through the same door or some 
accident will befall some member of the household 1 


1 


1 


If a hoe or shovel is carried through the house, unless it 
is immediately carried back again through the same 

door, it portends death in the family 1 .... 1 


Ladders. 

“Walking under a ladder is considered very unlucky. In the 
outposts girls will climb the rockiest cliffs to avoid such a con- 
tingency. On one occasion in St. Johns, where a ladder extended 
across the sidewalk, of one hundred and twenty-seven girls who 
came along, only six ventured under it, the rest going along the 
gutter in mud ankle deep. ” 

( Newfoundland . Quoted from Bergen, Current Superstitions , 
p. 83.) 


68 


University of California Publications in Education. [ Vo1 - 


If you pass under a ladder which is leaning against a 
building, you will have bad luck 




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If you walk under a ladder backward, you will have bad 
luck 1 


1 


If vou walk under a ladder, there will be a death in the 

family 1 1 .... 2 

If you walk under a ladder, you will not live until the 

end of the year 1 1 


Horseshoes. 

If the fair lady is cold to her lover’s advances, let him slip 
on to her finger a ring made of an old horseshoe. This will bring 
the desired attention. ( Middle Ages.) 

If you find a horseshoe, you will have good luck 

If you find an old horseshoe, it will bring you good luck 1 1 .... 2 

If you find a horseshoe with the point turned up, you 

will have wealth 1 1 

Find a horseshoe turned the way you are going, good 
luck; if turned the other way, luck is going the other 


wav : 1 .... 1 

«/ 

To find a horseshoe is good luck if the points are to- 
ward you 1 . 4 2 7 

To find the same horseshoe twice brings bad luck 1 .... 1 

If you find a horseshoe with a nail in it, it is a sign of 

good luck 1 1 

If you find a horseshoe without any nails in it, do not 

touch it or it will bring some disaster upon you 1 1 

If you find a horseshoe with the open end toward you, it 

is good luck and vice versa 1 .... 1 

If you find a horseshoe and take it home with you, you 

will have good luck 1 1 

To find a horseshoe in the middle of the road means 

good luck 1 1 .... 2 


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1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education 


69 


Picking up a horseshoe brings good luck 

To pick up a horseshoe pointing toward you brings good 
luck 

If you pick up a horseshoe by the two ends, it will bring 
good luck 

If you pick up a horseshoe on the street, you will have 


Bad luck will follow if on finding a horseshoe you do 


If you hang a horseshoe over your door, you will have 


Hang a horseshoe over the door with ends up, and it will 
bring good luck 

Hang a horseshoe over the outer door with curve down 
and the first person entering the door will bring 
good luck 

An old horseshoe hung over the doer will bring good 
luck 1 

If you hang a horseshoe over the door, peace will attend 
you 1 

To place a horseshoe above the door brings good luck 
and keeps away evil spirits 1 

Hang a horseshoe over the door, and you will marry the 
first one who passes under it 

If you find a horseshoe and hang it up, you will have 
good luck 6 

If you hang a horseshoe on the fence, you will have 
good luck 1 

Hang a horseshoe on the limb of a tree with the corks 
pointing away from the tree, and you will find some- 
thing valuable to you 1 

Hang a horseshoe up with the open end up and it will 
hold luck; not so if hung in the opposite way. If 
taken down, luck departs 1 



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70 


University of California Publications in Education 


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It is good luck to find a horseshoe, and when you nail it 
up be sure the open part of the shoe is upward, so 


the good fortune will not pour out 1 2 

Throwing a horseshoe over your shoulder and not turn- 
ing back to look brings good luck 1 1 


If you pick up a horseshoe and throw it over the right 
shoulder and then do not turn back, it will give good 
luck 2 

If you find a horseshoe and throw it over the left shoul- 
der, it will give good luck 

If you find a horseshoe and throw it over the left shoul- 
der without turning back, it will bring good luck 2 1 

Spit on a horseshoe and throw it over the left shoulder, 
and it will bring good luck 2 

Spit on a horseshoe and throw it over the right shoulder, 
and it will bring good luck 1 

If you spit on a horseshoe and throw it over your right 
shoulder and do not turn back to look at it, you will 
have good luck 1 

When you find a horseshoe, spit on it and throw it away, 

and you will have good luck 

If, when you find a horseshoe, you will spit on it, and 
then with closed eyes throw it away, your wish will 
come true 1 

When you find a horseshoe, spit on it, and do not look 
back as you throw it behind you, and the wish you 
have made will come true 1 

If, after finding a horseshoe, you will spit on it, and 
throw it over your head, at the same time making a 


wish, the wish will come true 1 

If you will turn over a horseshoe, it will produce good 
luck 1 


A red-hot horseshoe thrown into a churn will drive out 
the spirits which prevent the butter from forming .... 1 


Partial 

Belief 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education . 


71 


Hay. 

It will bring* good luck to see a load of liay. (Italian.) 


Seeing a load of hay brings good luck 

A wish made on seeing a load of hay will come true ... 

Wishes will come true if wished upon seeing a load of 
new hay 1 

If, when you see the first load of hay of the season, you 
make a wish, that wish will come true 1 

If you see a load of hay and throw a kiss at it and wish, 
your wish will come true 

If you wish on a load of hay and watch it until it is out 
of sight, the wish will come true 1 

If you make a wish while looking at a load of hay, it 
will come true, provided you do not look at the hay 
again 30 

If you look at a haystack and make a wish, and do not 
look at it again, your wish will come true 1 

If you see a load of hay, make a wish, and then turn 
away so as not to see the hay again, your wish will 
come true 2 



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Days of the Week. 

If you begin a quilt on Friday, you will never live to finish it. 
( Canadian . Middle States.) 


If you cut your nails on Saturday, you will be disap- 
pointed 

It is lucky for a child to be born on Sunday 2 

Work done on Sunday will lead to a bad end 

If you plant a tree on Sunday, it will not grow 

If you cut your nails on Sunday, you will have bad luck 
all the week 5 

If you cut your nails on Sunday, you will do something 
to be ashamed of before the week is out 6 


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72 


University of California Publications in Education. IT 01 - 5 


If you whistle on Sunday, you will have bad luck 


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If a sick person is worse on Friday and Saturday ? better 


on Sunday, he will never recover 1 1 

If the first horse you see on Sunday is a gray horse, you 

will receive a letter before night 1 1 

Marry on Monday, marry for wealth ; 

Marry on Tuesday, marry for health ; 

Wednesday's the best day of all; 

Thursday for crosses, Friday for losses, 

Saturday no luck at all ’ 14 16 


Monday's child is fair of face; 

Tuesday's child is full of grace; 

Wednesday's child is full of woe; 

Thursday's child has far to go; 

Friday's child is loving and giving; 

Saturday's child must work for its living; 

But the child that is born on the Sabbath day 

«/ 

7 s blithe and bonny and good and gay 6 1 .... 7 


Cut your nails on Monday, cut them for health ; 

Cut them on Tuesday, cut them for wealth; 

Cut them on Wednesday, cut them for news; 

Cut them on Thursday, a pair of new shoes; 

Cut them on Friday, cut them for woe ; 

Cut them on Saturday, a journey to go; 

Cut them on Sunday, you cut them for evil; 

And all the week you'll be ruled by the devil 2 2 .... 4 


Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger; 

Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger; 

Sneeze on Wednesday, sneeze for a letter; 
Sneeze on Thursday, something better ; 

Sneeze on Friday, sneeze for sorrow; 

Sneeze on Saturday, your sweetheart tomorrow; 
Sneeze on Sunday, your safety seek, 


Or the devil will have you all the week 4 4 

Never pay out money on Monday, or you will pay it out 

all week 1 1 


If it rains on Monday, it will rain three days that week .... 2 .... 2 

If you have company on Monday, you will have com- 
pany all week 3 6 3 12 

If you go calling on Monday, you will do nothing else 

all week 1 I 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


73 




.5 <b 




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If you meet a woman with red hair on Monday, you will 

meet with disappointments during the week 1 1 

If you do a large amount of work on Monday, you will 

work hard all the week 1 .... 1 

Kip a dress on Monday, you will do it all week 1 1 

Never get married or go on a journey on Tuesday 112 

Start anything on Tuesday, and nothing bad will happen 

to it 1 .... 1 

If you spill salt on Wednesday, you will have a fight .... 1 1 

Cut your finger-nails on Thursday, and you will have a 

pleasant surprise before the week is out 1 2 1 4 

As Monday goes, so goes the week 1 1 .... 2 


If you write a letter on Sunday, bad luck will befall you 1 1 

If you cut your toe-nails on Sunday, the devil will rule 

you all the week 1 1 

If things go wrong on Monday, they will go wrong all 

the rest of the week .' 2 .... 2 

If you go somewhere on Monday, you ’ll be on the go all 

the rest of the week 2 .... 2 

If a visitor comes on Monday, you will have visitors all 


the rest of the week 3 2 16 

If it rains on Monday, it will rain all week 1 .... 1 

If you are late to school on Monday, you will be late all 

week 1 1 .... 2 


It is dangerous to cut your finger nails on Monday 

A man had better never be born 
Than have his nails on a Sunday shorn. 

Cut them on Monday, cut them for health ; 

Cut them on Tuesday, cut them for wealth ; 

Cut them on Wednesday, cut them for news; 

Cut them on Thursday for a pair of new slices; 
Cut them on Friday, cut them for sorrow ; 

Cut them on Saturday, see your sweetheart to- 
morrow 


25 


Friday is an unlucky day 


8 


4 


O ~ 

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74 University of California Publications in Education. 


<D 

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Never begin a piece of work on Friday, for you will 

have bad luck if you do 44 20 

If a task be begun on Friday, it will not be success- 
fully done 25 20 

Evil will come to you if you start on a journey on Fri- 
day 52 24 


If you begin a garment on Friday, you will die within 
the year 2 

If you set a hen on Friday, you will have bad results 


Bad luck to be born on Friday 1 

If you move on Friday, you will have bad luck 5 4 


I would not look for work on Friday for anything in the 
world 

Work on the first Friday of the first month of the new 


year, the whole year will go wrong 1 

It is good luck to be married on Friday 1 

It is bad luck to be married on Friday : 1 1 


If you cut your finger-nails on Friday, you will have 

good luck 

It is bad luck to cut your finger-nails on Friday 1 1 

You will never have the toothache if you cut your nails 

on Friday 

Cut your nails on Friday, and you will break something 


before the day is over 1 

«/ 

It is bad luck to be married on Saturday 1 

If you start anything on Saturday, it is quickly done or 

never 2 2 

If anything is started on Saturday, it will never be 

finished 7 4 

If you start anything on Saturday, you will never live 

to finish it 1 

Never commence a garment on Saturday, or you will not 
live to wear it out S 

If you move on Saturday, you will not remain long in 

your new home : 1 3 


Partial 

Belief 


. 1907 ] Dresslar. — Superstition ami Education 

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It will bring bad luck to go calling on Friday 1 

If you go to sea on Friday, bad luck will attend you .... 1 

If you visit a sick friend on Friday for the first time, 
you will yourself be visited by some sickness 1 

If you cut out a new garment on Friday and do not com- 
plete it, the owner will not live to wear it out 

If one has a dress fitted on Friday, she will not live to 
wear it out 1 

If you begin a garment on Friday and do not finish it 
the same day, you will never get it done 

If you begin a garment on Friday and do not get it done 
that day, you will never get it done 

When Friday comes as the thirteenth day of the month, 
it is a very unlucky day 

Friday is my lucky day 

If you begin a task on a Saturday and do not finish it 
that day, it will never be finished 2 

The sun always shines during some part of Saturday .... 1 

Sunday is a lucky day 1 

It will bring ill-luck to any one who travels on the train 
on Sunday 1 

It is bad luck to sew on Sunday 


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New Year's Day. 

“If i\ T ew Year’s Eve night wind blow south, 

It betokeneth warmth and growth ; 

If west, much milk, and fish in the sea; 

If north, much cold and storms there will be; 

If east, the trees will bear much fruit; 

If northeast, flee it, man and brute.” 

(From Henderson's The Folk-lore of the North Counties of 
England , p. 58.) 


Totals 


76 University of California Publications in Education. f Vo1 * 5 


<D 

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PQ 

If a dark man bearing a green branch first enters the 
house on New Year’s day, good luck will follow 1 

If a lame or 'deformed person is the first to enter a 
house on New Year’s day, the father of the family 
will die that year 1 

Sweep a room backwards at 12 o’clock on New Year’s 
eve, and you will see the image of your future 
husband 

If there is an eclipse of the sun on New Year’s day, the 


year will be an unprosperous one 1 1 

At 12 o’clock on New Year’s eve the cows get down on 

their knees 1 1 

Cows stand on their heads at 12 o’clock on New Year’s 

eve 1 1 

If the first lamb you see in the New Year is facing you, 

you will be prosperous throughout the year 1 1 

What you do on New Year’s day, you will do all the 

rest of the year 4 2 .... 6 

If you work hard on New Year’s day, you will have to 

work hard all the year 1 1 

The first thing you bring into the house on New Year’s 

day you will bring in throughout the year 1 1 

If you go to a picnic or party on New Year’s day, you 

will attend many others during the year 1 1 

If you happen to break something on New Year’s day, 

you will have good luck throughout the year 1 1 

If you do wrong on the first day of the year, you will do 

wrong all through the year 1 1 .... 2 


If your first caller on New Year’s day is a man, you will 
have good luck throughout the year; if a woman calls 

first, you will have bad luck all the year 5 2 .... 7 

If you do a thing well on the first day of the year, you 

will do it well all the rest of the year 1 1 


Partial 

Belief 


1907] 

D i * ess l a r. — Superstition and E duca t ion . 


77 


Ground-hog Day. 





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If the sun does not shine on ground-hog day, warm 

weather is at hand 1 .... 1 


If a ground-hog can see his shadow on the 2nd of Feb- 
ruary, it is a sign it will rain for six weeks 2 2 

If the ground-hog sees his shadow on the 14th day of 

February, there will be six months of winter 1 1 

April Fool^s Day. 

The first man a young girl sees on April fool’s morning 

will be her future husband 1 1 

Easter. 

If you will wash your face in dew before sunrise on Easter 
morning, you will have no freckles. ( Middle States.) 




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If it rains on Easter Sunday, it will rain on the five fol- 
lowing Sundays 2 2 

A person who does not have something new to wear on 
Easter Sunday will not have any good luck during 

the year 1 .... 1 

If you put on one black garter and one yellow one on 

Easter morning, you ’ll be married before next Easter .... 1 .... 1 


May Day. 


If you will hold a mirror over the well on May day, the image 
of your future husband or wife will he reflected in it. (Southern 
States.) 


<v 



If a maid looks into a well on May day morning, she 
will see her husband’s image 







1 


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1 


If a maiden spreads her handkerchief on the grass on 
the 30th of April, on May day morning her future 
husband’s name will be written on it by the dew 1 


1 


78 


University of California Publications in Education. L Vo1 - 5 


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It is luck) 7 to arise early on the first day of May, and 
wash your face in the dew 1 


•“2 






IS 


On the first day of May, arise before the sun is up, and, 
without looking behind you or speaking to any one, 
go out into a rye-field, wash your face in the dew 
from the rye and wipe it with your bare arm. This 
will cause all the freckels to go from your face to 
your arm 1 


Hallo we *en. 


He who is born on Hallowe’en will be possessed 


of evil spirit 


( Southern States.) 


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If you run around the house on Hallowe’en with your 
mouth full of water, you will meet your future hus- 
band 1 


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If you will run around the house three times with a 
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broom over your shoulder on Hallowe’en, you will 
meet your future husband 1 

If you will go into the garret on Hallowe’en and look 
into a mirror, you will see the face of your future 
husband 1 


1 


1 


If a young woman looks into a mirror at midnight Hal- 
lowe’en, she will see the face of her future husband 2 

If, at midnight Hallowe’en, a maiden walks downstairs 
backward in the dark, with a mirror, she will see her 
future husband’s image reflected in it 2 

If you will walk around the house backwards on Hal- 
«/ 

lowe’en, with a mirror in your hand, your future 
husband will peer into the glass over your shoulder .... 4 

At midnight on Hallowe’en eat an apple before a 
mirror, and you will see behind you the image of 
your future husband 1 

On Hallowe’en go into a dark room with a mirror and 
a lighted candle above your head, and you will see 
your future husband, or the troubles that are to be- 
fall you 2 


2 


2 


4 


1 


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Totals L_i Totals 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


79 


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Blindfold yourself on Hallowe’en and, with two dishes 
in front of you, the one containing water, the other 
one a ring. If you first put your hand into the disli 
containing the ring, you will be married within a 
year; if into the other one, you will be an old maid 1 


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If you make a mixture of equal amounts of flour and 
salt, and bake a small cake of it in hot ashes, then 
eat it on Hallowe’en, you will see your future hus- 
band at midnight 1 1 


Christmas. 

“On Christmas eve, German peasants used to tie fruit trees 
together with straw ropes to make them bear fruit, saying that 
the trees were thus married.” (See Frazer, Golden Bough , Yol. 
I, p. 60.) 




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It is bad luck to pass the Christmas stocking without 

putting a crooked piece of metal in it 1 i 

Oxen talk in their stalls at 12 o’clock on Christmas eve 1 1 .... 2 

If you go out to the stalls at 12 o’clock on Christmas 

eve, you will see the oxen on their knees in prayer 1 1 

If you hang out a washing in the open air during Christ- 
mas week, it will bring bad luck 1 .... 1 

If there be no snow on Christmas, the next year will be 

full of death 2 2 


Birthday. 

“The owl shriek’d at thy birth, — an evil sign; 

The night crow cry’d, aboding luckless time; 

Dogs howled, and hideous tempests shook down trees. ’ ’ 

(Shakespeare, Henry 17, Pt. Ill, Act V, Scene 6.) 



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If you will be good on your birthday, you will be good 
all the year 2 

If you do wrong on your birthday, you will do wrong 
throughout the year 


80 


University of California Publications in Education. [V°l. 5 


If a girl is whipped on her birthday, she will die soon 


© 



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If you were born on a stormy day, you will have an 

unlucky life 

«/ 


1 


Numbers. 


“They say there is divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, 
chance, or death.’’ (Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 
V, Scene 1.) 


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ffl 

Third time’s the charm 2 

Three is a lucky number, and you will certainly succeed 
the third time 

If you dream the same thing three times in succession, 
the dream will come true 4 

Get one disappointment and you will get three 2 

Break one dish and you will break three 

If a dog howls three times in one day, sure sign of death 
in the family 

Say “ money” three times while you watch a falling 
star, and you will get rich 1 

If you drop a thing three times, something is going to 
happen 

Never go back the third time for any forgotten object. 

It means bad luck 1 


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If you wish three evenings on the same star, your wish 

will come true 1 1 

If you make three wishes on the 14th of the month, one 

of them will come true before the month is out 1 1 

If, while haying bad luck at cards, you stand up and 

turn around three times, your luck will change 1 .... 1 

If one boasts of good health and does not tap wood 
three times, he will soon be sick. (See Boasting for 

further examples) 1 1 

Three times a bridesmaid, never a bride 3 1 .... 4 


1907] 


Dresslar . — Superstition and Education. 


o 
£ 

If you burn three candles in the room, in a row, it is a 
sign of death in the family 5 

Three lights in a row is the sign of a wedding 1 

Never let three persons enter a room where three lights 
are burning, for they will never meet again 1 

If you lose two gifts from a friend, you will be sure to 
lose a third from the same friend 

Seven is a lucky number 3 

Seven is an unlucky number 1 

«/ 

The seventh child is lucky 

A seventh son will have miraculous healing power 1 

It is good luck to be counted in any way with the num- 
ber seven 

\ 

If you are the seventh person having your fare rung up 
after the car has left the end, you will have good 
luck all day 1 

Get up from a chair, and the chair falls over, you will 
not get married for seven years 1 

Kill a cat, and you will have bad luck for seven years .... 1 

It will bring you good luck if you walk over seven rails 
on the railroad track without stepping off 1 

Seven swallows of water taken in one breath will cure 
hiccough 

If you break a dish, you will break seven more in a 
short time 

Thirteen is an unlucky number 75 

The thirteenth day of any month is an unlucky day 

It is bad luck to begin anything on the 13th of the 
month 1 

It is unlucky for there to be a party of thirteen 3 

It is bad luck to sit at the table when thirteen are 
present 22 

If thirteen sit at the table, one of them will die soon .... 1 


Belief 


82 


University of California Publications in Education. [ Vo1 - 5 



If you are in a company of thirteen, one of the number 
will die within a year 

If thirteen sit at table, some trouble will happen to one 
of the number within a year 

If thirteen sit down at the table together, one of the 
number will die before the year ends 35 

Never eat at table where thirteen are seated, for terrible 
consequences are sure to follow 

A death will follow if thirteen sit at a table. Usually 


the last one seated is the fated one 3 

If thirteen sit down at a table, the youngest will die be- 
fore the year is out 1 

If thirteen sit down to a meal together, one will die be- 
fore the same crowd meets again 1 

If the number to your room, office, or car-berth is thir- 
teen, you will have bad luck 4 

Never get on a number thirteen car unless you are pre- 
pared for an accident which will surely follow 


If an engineer starts out with thirteen cars for three 
successive days, some accident will happen 

If there appear thirteen white horses at a funeral, there 
will be another death within the year 

t/ 

If you set a hen on thirteen eggs, they will not all hatch .... 

If thirteen eggs are set under a hen, bad luck will follow 
with the chickens 


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1 

3 

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5 

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1 

1 

— 

1 

1 

— 

1 

1 

2 

— 

9 

1 


1 


If thirteen sit at a table, the one who rises first will 
meet with bad luck. If all rise together, nothing bad 
will happen 1 

If there are thirteen persons at a dinner and there is a 
mirror in the room, the one sitting nearest the mirror 


will meet death very soon 1 

If the thirteenth day of the month comes on a Friday, 
evil things are more likely to happen then than at 
any other time 1 1 

Thirteen is an unlucky number to all persons not born 
on the 13th of some month 1 


J 


1 


9 


1 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


83 


o.2 
£ ® 
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If two lamps are burning side by side at the same time, 
company is coming 

There is luck in odd numbers 1 

[f you find a button, you will have good luck as many 
days as there are holes in the button 


Counting and Numbers. 

“As peascods once I plucked, I chanced to see, 

One that was closely filled with three times three; 

Which, when I cropped, I safely home conveyed, 

And o’er the Door the Spell in secret laid; 

A 

****** * * * * 

The latch moved up, wdien who should first come in 

But in his proper person, Lubberkin . 9 ’ 

(From Gay's The Shepherd’s Week , 1714.) 

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Count nine stars for nine successive nights, and some 
one will come to see you 

To wish the same thing on nine stars for nine successive 
nights will bring your wish true 2 

Count nine stars for nine successive nights and you will 
see your future husband 3 

Count nine stars for nine nights, and you will see your 
lover on the ninth night 

Count nine stars for nine nights, and the first unmarried 
person of the opposite sex you shake hands with will 
be your future husband or wife 2 

In shelling peas, if you find a pod containing nine peas, 
hang it over the door. The first man that walks 
through the door will marry you 4 

Count ten stars ten nights, and on the tenth night you 
will see the face of your future husband 2 

If you see ten white horses, you will see a red-headed 
person 1 


o 


5 


Partial : Partial 

Belief ^ M : Belief 


84 University of California Publications in Education. fTol. 5 


If you count forty-nine white horses and two white 
mules, the first man you speak to afterwards will be 
your future husband 1 



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Count seventy-five white horses, and the first man you 
meet will be vour future husband 1 


If after counting one hundred white horses one makes a 

wish, the wish will come true 1 1 

When one sees a white horse he should spit into the 
hand and pat it dowm with the other hand closed. 

When one hundred have been counted thus, some- 
thing valuable will be found 1 


The first one you meet after seeing one hundred white 

horses will be the one you will marry 5 1 

After you have counted one hundred white horses and 
«/ 

one white mule, the first man with whom you shake 
hands will be your future husband 2 1 


Count ninety-nine white horses and one white mule, and 
the first man you meet afterwards will marry you .... 


Count ninety-nine white horses and one white mule, and 
the first man you shake hands with is your future 
husband 2 

Count ninety-nine white horses, one white mule, and one 
spotted dog, and whatever wish you make will come 
true 


Count ten, turn a glass of water around three times, and 
then take nine swallows and it will cure hiccough, if 
you do not hiccough during the process 

If I count five before a fixed thing happens, my wish 
comes true 


If you count the carriages in a funeral procession, it 
will bring bad luck 1 

It will bring grief if you count the carriages in a 
funeral procession 1 

If you count the carriages in a funeral procession, it 

will bring a death in your family inside a year 3 1 

If you count the carriages in a funeral procession, you 

will hear of the death of a friend 1 



1 

1 


O 


1 

6 


3 

2 


2 


1 1 


1 1 

1 1 

1 
1 

3 7 

1 


Totals 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


o : 



If you count the carriages at a funeral, it will cause a 


If you count the carriages in a funeral procession, you 
will then know how old you are to be at your death 

If you count the carriages in a funeral procession, your 


To count the carriages in a funeral procession as it 
turns the corner indicates that you will be the next 


If you will name an apple and apply the following 
Count to its number of seeds, you will get a true 
answer: (1) I love; (2) I love; (3) I love, I say; 

(4) I love with all my heart; (5) I cast aw T ay; (6) 

He loves; (7) She loves; (8) They both love; (9) 

He comes; (10) He tarries; (11) He courts; (12) 

He marries; (13) They quarrel; (14) They part; 
(15) They die of a broken heart 7 

Count off the buttons on your dress according to the fol- 
lowing rhyme, and you will get a true description of 
your future husband: (1) Eicli man; (2) Poor 

man; (3) Beggar man; (4 Thief; (5) Doctor; (6) 
Lawyer; (7) Merchant; (8) Chief 9 

If you thump an apple and name it for some young 
man, and the young lady who eats the apple counts 
the seeds, she will be able to know how they will 
come out in love affairs. (See rhyme above) 2 

If you will pull the petals from a daisy, repeating as 
you do ‘ 1 He loves me, ’ ’ He loves me not , 1 ’ the last 
petal will reveal the truth 4 

If you will count off the petals of a dandelion, by 
naming the dress thus: silk, satin, calico, rags; or 
the house thus: brick house, stone house, log house, 
frame house, the last will reveal your wedding gown 
and your home after marriage 1 

If you will rub the yellow granules from the center of a 
calla, put them in your extended palm, and let an- 
other person give your hand a sharp blow from 
underneath, you will find the number of husbands 
you will have by the number of granules remaining 
in vour hand 1 

e/ 


death in your own family 


4 


own funeral will be the next 


3 


one to die 


1 


elie 


86 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


© 
© izz 
£ © 
pq 

The number of seeds in the orange you are eating will 
reveal the present age of the one you are to marry .... 1 

Count each time a man or boy tips his hat to you, and 
the hundredth one is the one you are to marry 2 

Crack the joints of your fingers, and the number of times 
they crack will tell the number of your lovers 

If you ‘ 1 count off ’ ? the flowers or newly formed fruit 
of a plant, it will cause them to fall off 1 


.5 

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Laughing. 

If the sun shines while the bride is on her way to church, it 
means that she has been laughing. (German.) 

If you laugh before breakfast, you will cry before 


dinner 1 1 

If you laugh before breakfast, you will cry before the 

day is over 4 4 

If laughter is indulged in too much during the day, the 

day will be finished with crying 1 1 

Laughing after going to bed will bring some great 

sorrow 1 I 

If you see a child laughing very heartily, it is a sign 

that it will soon be crying 1 .... 1 


Singing and Crying. 

If you sing while you brew, the beer will turn out well. (From 


Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology.) 

If you sing before breakfast, you will feel sorry before 

night 1 1 

If you sing before breakfast, you will cry before night 31 9 5 45 

To sing before breakfast is to cry before retiring 8 6 1 15 

If you sing before you eat, 

You will cry before you sleep 11 6 3 20 


If you sing before breakfast, 
Y x ou will cry before supper .. 


10 


8 


1 


19 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


87 


If you sing while you eat, 
You will cry while you sleep 


*4-4 

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If you sing before breakfast, bad luck will follow 1 1 


If you sing at the table, you will have bad luck 3 .... 2 5 

If you sing at the table, you will suffer some disappoint- 
ment 1 1 


To sing at the table is a sign of a death soon 1 1 

If you sing while making your toilet, your mother will 

die 1 1 


If you sing after you get in bed at night, you will cry 
before breakfast 


1 1 


If you sing on the street, you will meet with disappoint- 
ment soon 1 


1 


Starting on a Journey and Turning Back. 


It is very unlucky to turn back after you have once started. 
If you must turn back, however, you can avert misfortune by 
making the sign of the cross in the dust with your heel, and spit- 
ting in the cross. ( Middle States.) 


If you start on an errand and forget something, it is 
sure to bring bad luck 

It will bring bad luck to turn back after having started 
on a journey 

If vou come back to the house after you have started 
«/ •/ 

out, you will have bad luck before you return 


No 

Belief 

Partia 

Belie! 

Full 

Belief 

Totals 

3 

— 

— 

3 

10 

13 

3 

26 

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9 


Disappointment will overtake you if, after starting to 


go somewhere, you return to the house 1 1 

If, on leaving home, a person turns about and goes back, 

he will have bad luck all day 2 1 .... 3 


If on leaving the house on a journey you forget some- 
thing and turn back for it, you will meet with dis- 
aster 3 1 


4 


88 University of California Publications in Education. IT 01 * 5 


If you start on a journey and have to turn back for 
something which was forgotten, it is sure to bring 
you bad luck 




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To turn back for a forgotten article, after having 
started somewhere, will bring temporary bad luck .... 1 


1 


If, on leaving the house, it is necessary to go back for 
something forgotten, bad luck will result, unless the 

person sits down before starting out again 11 4 1 16 

If, on starting to go anywhere, you have to return many 
times before getting fairly started, bad luck will fol- 
low you during the remainder of your journey 1 .... 1 

Returning three times after having started some place 
brings bad luck, unless one sits down and ‘ ‘ changes 

the subject” before finally going 1 .... 1 


Turning back brings bad luck, unless you see and count 

nine objects 1 


1 


If a thing is forgotten and a return to the house is 
necessary, it will bring you bad luck, unless you sit 
down and count ten 3 3 


If, when starting on a journey, you forget something, 
before starting back after it you must, to avoid bad 
luck, turn around in your tracks three times, pick up 

some dust and scatter it over your tracks 1 1 

It is bad luck to go back for anything which may be 
forgotten. The bad luck may be counteracted, how- 
ever, by sitting down and counting thirteen 2 .... 2 


If on going away one finds that he has to return for 
something, he must make a cross before returning, 

else he will have bad luck 1 .... 1 


If you start anywhere and turn back, spit over your 


right shoulder, or you will have bad luck 1 1 

If you turn about and go back after starting anywhere, 
you will have bad luck unless you make a cross mark 

t/ V 

and spit in it 1 1 

If you start anywhere and have to turn back, make a 

cross and a wish, or you will have bad luck 1 .... 1 

If you have to turn back for anything, turn around 

three times, or you will have very bad luck 1 .... 1 


1907] 


D ress la r. — S i iperstitio n and E ducat ion 


89 


O 


If you turn around and look back after telling a person 

good-bye, ’ ’ you will have bad luck 1 


( ( 


If, after a person leaves you, you watch him until he is 
lost to sight, some misfortune will befall him 3 


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Speaking at the Same Time. 


When two people accidentally speak the same thing at the 
same time, some poor soul will be redeemed from purgatory. 
( Bohemian . See Wuttke, Aberglauben , p. 194.) 


If, when two people speak the same word at the same 
time, you make a wish, it will come true 



E? 

4 


If two people speak the same word at the same time, 
and make a wish before speaking again, the wish will 
come true 4 4 


When two people speak the same word at the same time, 
if they will fasten fingers and make a wish, the wish 

will come true 3 .... 3 


When two persons speak the same word or words simul- 
taneously, if they will interlock little fingers and 
make a wish before speaking, the wish will come true 2 1 .... 3 

If when two people say the same thing at the same time 
they cross their little fingers and say 1 ‘ pins and 
needles ’ ’ before anything else, then wish, the wish 

will come true 1 .... 1 


If two persons repeat the same words at the same time, 
and then link their little fingers together and make a 
wish, it will come true, if before separating they put 

their thumbs together and name some author 2 2 

If two people accidentally say the same thing at the 
same time, and then link their little fingers together 
and make a wish, it will come to pass (i 5 1 12 

If two people accidentally say the same thing at the 
same time, and then keep silent while they lock their 
little fingers together, make a wish, and then name 
their favorite poets, their wishes will come true. 


1 


1 


90 University of California Publications in Education. [ Vol. 5 


c3 


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When two people say the same thing at the same time, 
they should join little fingers and make a wish before 
they speak again, then one should say 1 1 pins, ’ ’ the 
other * 1 needles. ’ ’ The wish will come true 1 


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If two people say the same thing at the same time, and, 
before speaking again, lock their little fingers and 
make a wish, the wishes will come true, providing 
the first one through with the wish says ‘ ‘ pins, ’ ’ the 
other 1 1 needles, ; ’ and then they both touch their 
thumbs together 1 

When two persons say the same thing at the same time 
they should join their little fingers before speaking 
again. This done, they each make a wish, the one 
saying ‘ 1 salt, * * the other ‘ 1 pepper, ’ ’ then both say 
‘ ‘ thumbs, ’ ’ and at the same time touch thumbs. The 
wishes will come true 1 

If two persons speak the same word at the same time, 
they must clasp their little fingers together and then 
touch thumbs, else a quarrel will soon result 1 


1 


1 


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In at One Door, Out at Another. 


A person must come out of a room by the same door through 
which he came in; otherwise there will be a misfortune. ( Loui- 
siana ; Indiana.) 


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It is a bad sign to leave a house by a different door 
from the one through which you entered 3 

To enter by one door and leave by another will bring 

bad luck 11 2 


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A person should always go out of the same door through 


which he entered, else something unpleasant will 
happen to him 1 

To go in through one door and out at another when call- 
ing brings the hostess bad luck 3 


If you enter the front door of your neighbor’s house, 
you must leave by the same door, or you will bring 
them ill-luck 1 


1 

3 


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1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


91 


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If you enter a strange house by one door and leave it by 
another, some evil will befall you 


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If a person comes into a house, which he has never be- 
fore entered, by one door and leaves by another, he 

will bring bad luck to the occupants of the house 1 .... 1 

In calling, if you enter by one door and leave by an- 
other, you will bring the hostess another visitor 1 2 .... 3 

If you go in at one door and out by another, it is a sign 

that vou will soon move into another house 1 1 


If a person goes in at one door and out at another, with- 
out sitting down, it wall bring bad luck to the house 1 1 

If, on the first visit to a friend’s house, you enter by 
one door and depart by another, you will have trouble 

with that friend soon 1 .... 1 


If a person comes into your house through the front 
door and leaves through the back door, it will bring 
you more company 20 

If you go out of the front door and in at the back door, 
it is a sign of bad luck 

If a caller enters your house through the front door and 
leaves through the back door, he will never call on 
you again 1 


8 6 34 

1 .... 1 

1 .... 2 


If company comes in through the back door, and goes 
out the front door, you are sure to have more com- 
pany 1 1 


Washing and Wiping Together. 

Wash and wipe together, 

Live in peace forever. 


(Ohio. See Bergen, Current Superstitions , p. 135.) 



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Ill-luck for two people to wipe hands on the same towel 


at the same time 1 1 

It is bad luck for two persons to dry their hands on the 

same towel, unless they twist it 1 1 


92 


University of California Publications in Education. t Vo1 - 0 


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If two persons use the same towel together, they will 
have a quarrel 


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Washing the hands in the same basin with another, or 
wiping them on the same towel, is a sign of quarrel 
between those parties 

If you wash and wipe together, you will love and live 
together 


Walking on Opposite Sides of a Post. 


If two persons going hand in hand meet an obstacle which 
divides them, the one on the left will go to hell and the one on the 
right to heaven. {Negro; Georgia and Indiana.) 


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When two people walking together divide and go on 
opposite sides of a post or tree they w T ill have bad 
luck 


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If two friends w T alk on the opposite sides of a post, they 

will quarrel 25 24 18 67 

To allow a third party to pass between you and a com- 
panion insures a quarrel 1 1 


If when walking in company with another person some 
one should walk between you and this companion, the 

friendship existing between you two would be cut .... 6 1 .... 7 

Two friends when walking, if they meet a tree or post, 
should go upon the same side; if not, the friendship 
is broken 1113 


If two persons are walking and walk one on each side of 
a post, it is bad luck unless they say “ bread and 
butter” 2 2 

If two people in walking together pass on different 
sides of a stationary object, they will fight unless 
they say “ bread and butter” 1 2 .... 3 


If two people, while walking together, pass a tree on 
opposite sides, they will quarrel unless before they 
say anything else they say “ bread and butter” 2 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


& 

If you pass between two conversing people, you will 


have bad luck 

It is bad luck for two couples to shake hands across 
each other 1 

If, while two couples are shaking hands, their hands 
cross, it is the sign of a wedding 1 


When four people are shaking hands, if they cross their 
hands, some one of the four will be married within 
a year 

If two people shake hands good-bye over the fence, they 
will never meet again 1 

If, when a boy and girl are walking on a sidewalk to- 
gether, the girl is on the outside, it means she is for 
sale 


If a boy and girl walk down the street together and the 
girl takes the inside, it means that she is his 1 

While walking together friends must not allow them- 
selves to be separated by an object, else their friend- 
ship will be broken 3 

Friends will quarrel if they pass on opposite sides of a 
post while walking together 1 


If, w T hile friends are walking, they are separated by a 
tree, a stump, or a large stone, they will quarrel soon 4 

If you and your friend go on opposite sides of a post, or 
tree, you will have a misunderstanding with a sad 
end 

When something goes between two people while walking, 
and nothing is said afterward, the two will quarrel 

If when walking with another person you should pass 


on different sides of a person, post, or object, each 
should say 1 1 bread and butter ’ ’ so you will not 
quarrel 1 

I? two pedestrians in company pass on opposite sides of 
a post, they will quarrel unless they each say 1 ‘ bread 
and butter” 9 

If tw T o people go on different sides of a post, they will 
be enemies 1 


Belief 


94 University of California Publications in Education. IT o1 - 5 



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To walk four abreast is bad luck 1 1 

If, while passing a gate, you close it, you will have bad 

luck 1 1 

Passing on a stairway brings very bad luck to both 

parties 1 1 


Stepping on Cracks. 


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Bad luck will come if you step on one of the lines in a 
cement walk 

If you step on the cracks in a wooden sidewalk or a line 


in a cement one, you will have bad luck 1 1 

If one steps on a crack, his mother will die 1 1 

Step on a crack 

You’ll break your mother’s back 1 1 

«/ 


When walking on a cement walk, if you do not step on 
the cracks you will have a surprise when you get 


home 1 1 

If you walk to school and home again without stepping 

on a crack, you will find a surprise awaiting you 1 1 

If you do not step on any of the cracks in the floor, you 

will have a good supper 1 1 

If I step on a certain stone on the way to school, it in- 
sures me good luck for the day 1 .... 1 


Sneezing. 

“When a man sneezeth, whereby the brain cloth naturally 
clear itself, they hold it to he a great sign of luck or unluck, and 
draw forecasts therefrom, such as, if the sneezes be three, there 
are four thieves around the house. If there be two, the man shall 
rise and lie down another way to sleep; but if thirteen, then it is 
exceeding good, and what appeareth to him that night shall in 
very deed come to pass. Also in the morning when a man goeth 
from his bed, the sneezes shall mean other things again ; the 
things are many and it is all downright unbelief. # * # 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


95 


Again some natural philosophers do say that this sneezing cometh 
very nigh the stroke (apoplexy). For should the crude humors* 
remain unobstructed in the brain, and not come out, the stroke 
would strike the man real soon ; therefor do some masters call it 
the minor apoplexia , i.e., the lesser stroke. For when a man sneez- 
etli, he is of many of his limbs in no wise master, but of Gods 
grace it lasteth not long the better for him." 

(From Dr. Hartlieb’s [Physician in ordinary to Duke Al- 
brecht of Bavaria], Booh of all Forbidden Arts , Unbelief and 
Sorcery; written in 1455 for Johans Markgraf of Brandenburg. 
Quoted from Stallybrass’ translation of Grimm’s Teutonic Myth- 
ology, Yol. IV, p. 1772.) 


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Sneeze on a certain day, a certain thing will surely 
follow 

It is unlucky to sneeze before breakfast 3 

Sneeze once, sneeze for luck 

Sneeze three times, one more, one less, 

Here before an hour, I guess 

If you sneeze, some one is crossing your grave 1 

If any one tells you anything and you shortly after 
sneeze, you may be sure that what was told you is 
true I 


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If you sneeze before you eat, 

You’ll see a stranger before you sleep 1 1 

If you sneeze on Monday, you must be careful of danger .... 2 


If you sneeze on Tuesday, you will have a visit from a 

stranger 2 .... 2 

If you sneeze on Wednesday, it brings a letter 2 4 .... (i 

If you sneeze on Thursday, you’ll have company 2 .... 2 

If you sneeze on Friday, something sorrowful will be- 
fall you 4 .... 4 

If you sneeze on Saturday, you will have a joyful Sun- 
day 2 .... 2 

If you sneeze before getting up on Sunday morning, you 

will hear of a wedding before the end of the week .... 2 2 


96 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


Making a Rhyme. 

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Upon making a rhyme, 

1 1 Throw a kiss toward the west, 

See your lover before you rest” 

If you unthinkingly make a rhyme, you will see your 
loved one before night I 

Arake a rhyme without design, 

You’ll see your lover before nine 1 

Alake a rhyme without design, 

See your lover before bed-time 

«/ 

If you make a rhyme unconsciously, and make a wish 
before saying anything more, your wish will come 
true 3 


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Boasting. 


You must be sure to tap wood after making some boasting 
statement, or else misfortune will overtake you. ( General in 
United States.) 


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When a rash assertion is made, it is necessary to rap 
wood to prevent the opposite from coming true 


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Rap on wood, after boasting, or your luck will reverse .... 1 


To brag of anything and not rap on wood afterward 
causes the thing of which you brag to become the 

opposite : 1 .... 1 


If a person brags that he is not going to do so and so, 
he will surely have to unless he raps on something- 

wooden 1 1 


Rap wood when boasting, or the thing boasted of will 


surely be a failure 1 .... 1 

In boasting of not having been ill, you must touch wood, 

or your boast will not hold true 1 I 


If a good statement or a rasli one such as saying a per- 
son who has been dangerously ill is out of all danger, 

rap wood at once, or the opposite will come true 1 1 


1907] 


D ress la i * . — S up erst it ion and Education. 

Crossing Hands. 

(See also passing on opposite sides of a post or tree.) 


97 


If four persons cross hands in shaking hands or taking leave, 
one will marry before the year is out. ( Prince Edward Island. 
See Bergen, Current Superstitions , p. 64.) 




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If four people cross hands in the act of shaking hands, 
it is a sign of a marriage 3 


3 


If four persons cross hands while shaking hands, there 

will be a wedding soon 8 1 

If two persons shake hands and while they are shaking- 


two persons shake hands across, it is a sign of a wed- 
ding soon in the family of any of the people shaking 
hands 1 

Four people shake hands with the pairs crossed, and one 

of the four will be married 1 1 

If four persons cross hands while shaking, two of them 

will be married soon 3 2 


2 11 


1 


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If four persons cross hands in shaking hands, the young- 
est one will be married in a year 1 1 

If four persons cross hands while shaking hands, tw T o of 

them will be married within a year 3 .... 2 5 

If four people cross hands while shaking hands, two of 

those people will be married within four years 1 1 


When two couples cross hands while shaking hands, the 
couple whose hands are underneath will be married 


soon 1 1 

It is unlucky for two hands to cross at the table 1 1 


Sitting on a Table. 


If you sit on a table, you will not be married that year. ( New 
England. See Current Superstitions , Bergen, p. 63.) 


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Bad luck will come if you sit on a table 1 1 

If you sit on a table, you are in love 1 .... 1 


98 University of California Publications in Education. [ Vo1 - 5 


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If you sit on a table, you want to be married 8 

Sitting on the table shows the person is engaged 1 

If you sit on a table, you will marry a tailor 

If you sit on a table, you will soon be married 3 

If a young girl sits on the table, she will be married 
before the year is out 3 

If you are sitting on the table, 

You’ll be married before you’re able T 1 

If you sit on the table, you will not be married that 
year 14 

If a young lady sits on the table, she will not be mar- 
ried that year 1 

If a young lady sits on the table, she will not be married 
for seven years 1 

If you lie on a table, you will die before the year is up .... 


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Through a Window. 

If you pass a baby out through a window, it will never live to 
grow up. ( Southern States.) 



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It is bad luck to jump through a window 1 .... 1 

To climb out of a window and not climb in again is bad 

luck 1 1 

If you climb in at a window, you will have bad luck 1 .... 1 

Don ’t climb through a window, or you will grow no more 1 1 


Stumbling and Falling. 

If one stumbles while walking, it portends some calamity. 
( Ancient Greek. See Euripides, Heracleidae, 730.) 3 


3 1 am indebted to Professor Edward B. Clapp for this reference. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


It means bad luck to fall down 

If you stub your toe and do not retrace your steps, you 

will have bad luck 1 1 

Stubbing of right toe indicates good luck, and stubbing 
of left toe bad luck 1 


If you stumble over a threshold, it is considered an un- 
lucky omen 

If a bride stumbles on a doorsill, her married life will 
be very unhappy 1 

If you should stumble while going up the steps of some 
one’s house, it is a sign that you are not wanted 


there 1 

If you fall upstairs, you will have good luck 3 

If a person falls in going upstairs, it means bad luck .... 3 

Good luck to fall upstairs, bad luck to fall down 1 

If you stumble in going downstairs, you will be a drudge 
forever 1 


If you fall upstairs, you are sure to get a letter 

If you fall upstairs, it is a sign you want to get married 1 

If a person stumbles when going upstairs, the next per- 
son who goes up the same stairs will be married the 


same year 1 

If you fall going upstairs, you will not be married with- 
in a year 8 

Falling upstairs is a sign you will not be married this 
year 9 


To fall upstairs is a sign you will be married that year 5 
To fall downstairs signifies you will not be married this 


year 1 

If you fall upstairs, you will not be married for seven 

years 1 

If, during leap year, a girl falls upstairs, she will be 
married within a year 1 

If you fall upstairs, you will never be married 1 


99 


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Belief 


100 University of California Publications in Education . f Vo1 - 5 


“An Itching Palm/’ 


“And let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself are much con- 
demned to have an itching palm. ’ ’ (Shakespeare, J ulius Caesar .) 


If the palm of your hand itches, you are going to get 
some money 



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If the palm of your hand itches, you will receive money 
before the week is out 1 

If your palm itches, it is a sign that you will get money ; 
but this will not come true unless you have your 
hand scratched by another person 1 

If the palm of your hand itches and you rub it on wood, 
you will have good luck 2 

When the palm of your right hand itches, you will shake 
hands with a stranger 3 

If the palm of your right hand itches, shut your hand 
quickly and thrust it into your pocket. This will 
assure you money in abundance. If the hand is not 


put in the pocket, the money is lost 1 

If the palm of your left hand itches, it is a sign of 
money 18 

If the palm of your left hand itches, you are going to 
receive a present 1 


1 


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2 

3 


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1 2 


Hand Itching. 

If your right hand itches, you will take money; if your left, 
you will spend much. ( Old German.) 

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If your hand itches, put it on a piece of wood, and you 

will soon get money 1 .... 1 

When your hand itches, if you will rub it on wood your 

wishes will come true 1 .... 1 

When your right hand itches, it brings company 1 .... 1 

If your right hand itches, you will shake hands with 

some one 10 1 5 16 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


101 


If your right hand itches, you will shake hands with a 
friend , 

If your right hand itches, it is a sign that you are to 
shake hands with an old friend 

If your right hand itches,' it is a sign that you will shake 
hands with a stranger 

If your right hand itches, you will shake hands with a 
stranger of the opposite sex 

If your right hand itches, you will get money 

If the right hand itches, you will have money given you 

If the right hand itches, you will receive money; but if 
the left, you will let money go 

If your left hand itches, it is a sign of riches 

If your left hand itches, you will have some money 

Left hand itching, rub it on wood; 

Wish for money, ? tis sure to come good 


No 

Belief 

Partial 

Belief 

Full 

Belief 

Totals 

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Eye Itching. 



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If your eye itches, you will see a stranger 1 .... 1 


If your right eye itches, you are going to laugh; left 

eye itches, you are going to cry 1 1 .... 2 

If your right eye itches, you are going to cry; left eye 

itches, you are going to laugh 3 3 

If the right eyelid quivers, you are going to laugh 1 1 


Nose Itching. 

If your nose itches, it is a sign that you will be kissed, cussed, 
or vexed. ( Massachusetts . See Bergen, Current Superstitions, 

p. 140.) 


102 


University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 


5 


If your nose itches, some one wants to see you 

If your nose itches, you will have a visitor 

If your nose itches, you will have unexpected visitors .... 

If your nose itches violently, some one will be sure to 
come 

If your nose itches in the morning, you will have news 

that day 

If your nose itches, you are going to be angry 

When one’s nose itches, he will see the one he loves best 
before night 

If your nose itches, some one is thinking about you 

If your nose itches, you will kiss a stranger 

If your nose itches, you are going to kiss a fool 

If your nose itches on the left side, a man is coming to 
visit you ; if on the right side, a woman is coming .... 


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Lips Itching. 

An itching of the lips is a sign that some one is speak- 
ing disrespectfully of you 1 .... 1 


Ear Itching, Burning, and Ringing. 

If your right ear sings, they are speaking truth of you ; if the 
left, a lie. Bite the top button of your shirt, and the liar gets a 
blister on his tongue. ( German . Grimm's Teutonic Mythology.) 


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If your right ear itches, somebody is talking good about 
you 


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If your ear itches, some one is thinking about you; and 

if you think of that one, it will stop itching 1 

If your left ear itches, you will cry 1 .... 1 

If your left ear itches, some one is talking bad about 

vou 2 2 

- - - - 


1 


o 


4 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


103 




If your right ear burns, some one is talking good about 
you; and if the left burns, some one is talking ill of 
you 

If your left ear burns, some one is speaking well about 
you; if it be the right, they speak ill 

If your left ear rings, you are to hear of a death 

If your ears burn, some one is talking about you 

If your ears burn, some one is saying evil things about 
you 

If your ears burn, and especially if there is a sudden 
sharp pain in them, some one is talking bad about 
you 

When your ear burns, some one is talking about you; 
and if you pull your ear, that person will bite his 
tongue 

If your ears burn, some one is thinking of you : right 
ear, good; left ear, bad 

If your right ear burns, some one is talking about you 

If your right ear burns, some one is speaking well of 
you 

If your right ear burns, some one of your sex is talking 
about you ; if it be the left, one of the opposite sex 

If your right ear burns, some one is speaking evil about 
you 

When your left ear burns, some one is speaking ill of 
you 

When your left ear burns, some one is speaking ill of 
you ; and if you bite your little finger, your ma- 
ligner will bite his tongue 

When the right ear burns, it is the sign of good news; 
if it be the left, you will hear bad news 

If your ear rings, some one is talking about you 

If you suddenly have a roaring in your head, some ca- 
lamity is going to happen 

A ringing sensation in the left ear indicates that you 
are soon to receive sad news 


No 

Belief 

Partial 

Belief 

Full 

Belief 

Totals 

25 

5 

1 

31 


6 

.... 

6 

1 

— 

— 

1 

15 

8 

1 

24 

9 

LA 

1 

— 

3 

1 

— 

— 

1 

1 

— 

— 

1 

1 

.... 

.... 

1 

1 

— 

— 

1 

26 

15 

4 

45 

1 

— 

— 

1 

2 

1 

— 

3 

30 

14 

4 

48 

— 

1 

— 

1 

1 

— 

— 

1 

2 

— 

— 

9 

9 

LJ 

— 

— 

9 

LA 

1 



1 


104 


University of California Publications in Education. [ Vo1 * 5 


a> 

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If you hear a ringing sound in your ears, it is the death 
knell, and one of your friends is dying 6 


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9 


If your left ear rings, some one is speaking good of 
you; if it is the right, some one is speaking ill of 
you 1 1 


Foot Itching. 


If your foot itches, you will walk on strange land. {Maine; 
also Middle States.) 


If your foot itches, it is a sign you are going somewhere 

If your foot itches, you will walk on strange ground 

If your foot itches, you will walk on dead men’s graves 

If the ball of the foot itches, you will walk on strange 
ground 


No 

Belief 

Partial 

Belief 

Full 

Belief 

Totals 

4 

— 

— 

4 

6 

9 

LJ 

o 

O 

11 

1 

— 

— 

1 

1 



1 


If your elbow or knee itches, there will soon be a change 
in the household; either a visitor will arrive, or some 

member of the family will leave 1 .... 1 


Miscellaneous Body Signs. 


If a blister comes on your tongue, it is a sure sign that you 
have recently told a lie. ( Middle States.) 


- c3*£ 


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fa 


The number of "white marks you have on your finger- 
nails is the number of sweethearts you have 1 

Say on your fingers, beginning with the thumb, 

‘ 1 Friends, foes, lovers, beaux, presents to come. 9 9 
Y r ou have as many of each as there are wdiite spots 
on the nail of that finger 2 

If there is a white spot under your thumb-nail and you 
wish for something, it will come true when the spot 
leaves 


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If you have cold hands, you have a warm heart 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education . 


105 


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If a woman's second toe is longer than the great toe, 
she will rule her husband 




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If you scratch yourself, you are going on a journey 2 1 

If you have a long scratch on your hand, you will have 

a long ride - 1 1 

A scratch on the hand brings a ride; the nearer the 
thumb, the sooner the ride 1 

A scratch on the fingers is a sign of disappointment; 
the nearer the thumb, the sooner to occur 2 


If you have a sore on the tongue, it is because you have 
lied to some one S. 1 

If your right eye burns, it is a sign that you are going 
to laugh ; when the left eye burns, it is a sign that 


you are going to cry 1 

If your face burns, some one is talking about you 1 

If the palm of your hand burns, some one is speaking 

well of you 1 

«/ 

If one’s feet hurt, it is going to rain 1 

If your corns hurt, it is a sure sign of rain 4 2 3 

If you have aches in your bones, it is a sign of rain 1 

A sudden feeling of depression means that some one is 

walking over your grave 1 

If a shiver runs up your back, some one is walking over 

your grave 1 2 

When a rigor runs up your back, it means that a rabbit 

is running over your grave 2 

If your elbow cracks, you are going to get a letter 1 


It is bad luck to have a cross-eyed negro come into your 

presence 1 

Tf a gambler always strokes a cross-eyed cat before 

playing, he will have good luck 1 

To meet a person with one eye out brings bad luck, un- 
less you turn around three times 1 


If your eyebrows grow together in front, it is a sign 
that you are cross 


a 


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1 


9 


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1 

1 

3 


1 

1 

I 

1 


1 


1 


106 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


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If you have a blue vein across the bridge of your nose, 


between the eyes, you will not live to old age 1 1 

If your palm is hollow, you will be rich 1 .... 1 

The person whose fingers do not fit closely together is a 

spendthrift 1 1 


Put your two little fingers parallel and touching and if 


they branch off at the upper joint and form a Y, you 

will be rich 1 1 

If your fourth finger is nearly as long as your third, it 

is a sign you are aggressive 1 .... 1 

If your fingers can bend back at the last joint, you are 

stubborn 1 1 

You have told as many lies as there are white spots on 

your finger-nails 4 1 .... 5 

If you have white spots on your finger-nails, you will 

receive a present for each spot 1 1 

If the arms are very hairy, wealth is waiting for the 

person 1 1 

It is lucky to have moles 1 1 

1 1 Mole on the neck, 

Money by the peck” 1 1 .... 2 

A birthmark, if not hideous but merely a little round, 

red mark, is a sign of special providence for you 1 .... 1 

If you touch the hunch of a deformed person, you will 

have good luck 1 1 

People who have red hair are always ill-natured 1 2 I 4 


Keeping near a bald-headed man during a storm will 
prevent lightning from striking you 

The color of the eyes has much to do with one’s char- 


acter 1 .... 1 

Persons with green eyes should not be trusted 1 1 

Black eyes is an indication of hot temper 1 ] 

Blue eves signify dutifulness 1 1 

«/ o */ 


If a cross-eyed person looks at you, you will have bad 
luck 


1 


1 


1907] 

Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


107 



cS e * H 



£ 13 
PQ 

2 a; 

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Never look a cross-eyed person in the face 

It is an ill-omen to meet a cross-eyed girl followed by a 
yellow dog 

If you see a cross-eyed person on the street and do not 
take off your hat and spit in it, you will have bad 
luck 

It will bring bad luck to pass a cross-eyed person, unless 
one immediately crosses himself 

If you meet a cross-eyed person on the street, you will 
have bad luck on your journey or errand 


Warts. 

If you wash your hands in water in which eggs have been 
boiled, it will cause warts to appear on your hands. {New Eng- 
land. See Bergen.) 



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If you count your warts every day, they will disappear 1 1 

If you count another person ’s warts, you will have warts 

yourself 1 1 

Count all your warts, and tell your aunt the number; if 

she does not tell any one, the warts will disappear 3 1 

If you secretly rub a bean on a wart, and then plant the 

bean, when it grows the wart will disappear 12 3 


If you secretly split a bean, and then rub each half in 
the blood of a wart, and bury the bean, when it rots 


the warts will disappear 1113 

If you rub a wart with a pea and then throw it into a 

well, the wart will go away 1 I 

If you rub a wart with a potato and bury it secretly, the 

wart will disappear 1 1 

If you rub your wart with an onion, and then plant it, 

as soon as the onion grows the wart will disappear 1 1 

If you will rub your warts with the half of a peeled 
apple, and then give the apple to a pig, the warts 
will go off 1 1 


108 University of California Publications in Education. [ Vo1 - 5 


a> 


If you will rub the warts on your hand, and at the same 

time look at the full moon, the warts will disappear 1 J 

If you will cut into a wart and with the same knife cut 
into a tree, when the tree has healed your wart will 
be gone , 1 1 

If you wish to get rid of a wart, kill a cat and bury it 

in a black stocking. The wart will soon disappear .... 1 1 

If you will put as many grains of corn in your pocket 
as you have warts, your warts will disappear as soon 

as you have unknowingly lost all the corn 1 .... 1 


If you dip some straws in the blood of your warts, and 
then throw the straws away, the one who picks them 
up will get the warts 1 

If you have a wart on your face or hand that you wish 
to get rid of, go some place and throw a pin over 
your left shoulder, and if you do not look back, your 
wart will disappear 1 

If you have warts, bury in a place where no one know T s 
as many pins as you have warts, and as soon as the 
pins rust your warts will go away 

If you will make as many chalk marks on the back of 
your chimney as you have warts, when the marks dis- 
appear your warts will go away 1 

If you will place three chalk marks on the back of a 
grate, when the marks burn off your warts will dis- 
appear 


1 


1 


1 .... 1 


1 


1 .... 1 


If you will bury a rooster’s comb, your warts will dis- 
appear 1 .... 1 

If, upon hearing of a death, you will pass your hand 
over your warts and say, i 1 My warts are dead, too , 1 ’ 

they will disappear 1 .... 1 

If you will rub something on your warts, and at the 

same time look at the moon, your warts will go away .... 1 .... 1 


If you steal a piece of steak and secretly bury it where 
three roads cross, your warts will disappear 1 


1 


Secretly rub fat bacon on a wart, and it will disappear .... 


If you have a wart on your hand, it will disappear if 
you bury a piece of bacon 


1 1 


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3 


Partial 

Belief 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


109 


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« 


Steal a piece of bacon, rub your wart with it, and then 
throw the bacon away. Your warts will disappear.... 1 

If a person wishes to get rid of warts, he must steal a 
piece of fat pork from his nearest neighbor, rub it 
on the wart, and then bury the pork ten feet from 
the neighbor’s house r 1 

If a piece of meat is rubbed on a wart, then buried, the 
wart will disappear as soon as the meat decays 

Rub a bone over a wart three times, then bury the bone. 

At the end of three days the wart will disappear 

Pick up an old dry bone and rub a wart with it, and 
then lay it down just as you -found it, and soon the 
wart will be gone 1 

Warts will disappear if bought and paid for 2 

If some one gives you a penny for your wart, it will dis- 
appear 

Have some one buy your warts for 10 cents, then they 
will disappear 1 

To remove a wart, throw a dish cloth over your left 
shoulder 1 


If you rub a piece of dish rag over a wart, then bury 

the rag, your warts will disappear when the rag rots 1 1 

If you will steal some one’s dish rag, rub it on a wart, 

then bury it, the wart will disappear 2 2 


If you steal your mother’s dish rag and hide it, it will 

cure you of warts 1 1 

Steal your neighbor’s dish rag, bury it, and when it has 

decayed your warts will soon disappear 1 1 


If you have warts on your hands, steal a piece of dish 
rag, rub your warts with it, and then throw it away. 

The w^arts will soon disappear 5 .... 2 7 

If some one will wrap a cloth around your wart, and 
then bury the cloth, the wart will be gone when the 
cloth has rotted 1 I 

If he who has warts will bury something which will de- 
cay, the warts will disappear when the thing buried 
decays 1 1 


Partial 

Belief 


110 University of California Publications in Education. [T°k 5 


_ o 
0 • •—* 

PQ 

If you will rub your warts with a stick, and then throw 
it behind without looking back, the warts will disap- 
pear if the stick is never found 1 

Rubbing a wart with a stone, and then hiding the stone, 
will cause the wart to disappear 1 

If one who has never seen a wart on your hands before 
spits on the wart, it will disappear 

If you will tie a string around a wart, and then bury 
the string, the wart will disappear 1 

Tie a string around a wart and bury the string; when 
the string has rotted the wart will disappear 1 


.52 

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Rub a string on a wart and then tie a knot in it; when 


the string is rotten the wart will disappear 1 1 

If you take a piece of a string and tie nine knots in it 

over a wart, the wart will go away 1 .... 1 


If you will tie a knot in a thread for each wart you 
have, and then bury the thread in a damp place, the 
warts will all disappear when the thread has become 
rotten 


If you will tie as many knots in a piece of string as 
you have warts, and then hang the string where the 
rain can drip on it, your warts will disappear as soon 

as the string is worn away 1 1 

Tie as many knots in a string as you have warts. Throw 
the string over your right shoulder, and if you do not 

look back your warts will go away 1 .... 1 

If you have warts, take a piece of new calico and rub it 
on the warts, then drop the rag in the road or in a 

path. The first picking it up will get your warts 1 1 


Mole, Birth-mark, Sty. 

One can cure a sty (Gerstenkorn im Auge) by rubbing it 
three times with his mother's wedding ring. ( German . See 
Wuttke, Aberglauben , p. 329, [525] ). 


* 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


Ill 



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if you have a sty on your eye, and look through a key- 
hole, it is said to cure the sty and drive it away 1 1 

If you have a sty on your eye, and spit on a stone, and 

bury it and lose the place, the sty will disappear 1 1 


Stand behind a door and say, ‘ i Sty, sty, get out of my 
eye, ” for fifteen times without taking a breath, and 

the sty will go away 1 1 


If you have a sty on your eye and rub it with a wedding- 
ring, it will disappear 1 


1 


A sty will leave the eye if the one afflicted goes to a 
cross-road and says: 

‘ ‘ Sty, sty, leave my eye ; 

Catch the next one who passes by * ’ 1 1 


A birth-mark may be removed by holding it on a corpse 

until the birth-mark is the same temperature 1 1 

To rid one’s self of a mole, touch the face of a corpse.... 1 1 

When running, if the side aches, the pain will stop if 

you spit under a rock 1 1 


Foot (Right and Left). 


“The holy virgin is sometimes worshiped under the name of 
right-handed (Ilavayta Ae£ia or and is depicted carry- 

ing the child in her right arm." (See Macedonian Folk-lore, 
Abbott, p. 187 f.) 


o * — 
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If you stub your left toe, you will have bad luck 1 

If you stub your right toe, you will have good luck 1 

If you are going to call at a strange place and stub your 
right toe, you will be welcome; if your left, you will 
not be welcome 1 

It will bring bad luck to step into a church right foot 
first 1 

When you enter a house, first put your left foot within 
the door, or bad luck will follow 1 


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112 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


- .£ 

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rH 

It is bad luck to enter a house with the left foot for- 
ward 3 

If you put your right foot out of bed first, you will be 
good-natured all day; left foot first, cross all day .... 3 

If a person leaves for a journey and steps out of the 
house with his left foot first, it is a sign that he will 
return unsuccessful 1 

If in hunting for coons you stub the right toe, many 
coons will be caught; if the left, it is no use to hunt 
further 2 


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Dress and Clothing in General. 

If you wear a red flannel shirt, you will not have rheumatism. 
(General among the working classes in the United States.) 


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If your skirt is turned up at the bottom, some one is 
thinking of you 1 

If your skirt turns up at the hem, some friend is think- 
ing about you 1 

If the hem of your skirt turns up, you are going to a 
party 1 

I f your dress turns up at the bottom, your lover is think- 
ing of you 1 

If your dress turns up as you go downstairs, it is a sign 
that you are to have a new lover 

If your dress turns up at the bottom, you will soon get 
a new dress 1 

If your dress is turned up at the bottom, and you make 
a wish, it will come true 

If a person allows her new dress to be worn by another 
before she herself has worn it, she will not live to 
wear it out 

If you tear any part of a new dress when you are mak- 
ing it, you will not live to wear it out 


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1907] 

Bresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


113 



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If you mend a garment without first taking it off, you 

will surely have bad luck 1 1 


As many stitches as you take in a garment upon your 
person, so many will be the number of lies that will 


be told about you 1 1 .... 2 

If there is a hole in the toe of your stocking, there is a 

letter in the postoffice for you 1 1 

If you will tie a stocking around your neck, when af- 
flicted with sore throat, it will cure you 1 1 

It is bad luck for a man to wear his hat in the house .... 1 1 

It is bad luck to lose a glove 1 1 


Neck Charms, Strings, and Ribbons. 

A red ribbon hung on the bed will bring good luck to the 
household. ( Modern Italian. Cf. Leland, p. 366.) 



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If a charm is hung around the neck of a child, good luck 


will be in store for that child 1 1 

If a child will wear a talisman around its neck, it will 

keep away sickness and other disasters 2 2 

A string of amber beads worn around the neck will pre- 
vent nose-bleed 1 l 

If you wear a red string around the neck, it will pre- 
vent nose-bleed 3 3 

If you tie a red yarn string around your neck, it will 

stop nose-bleed 1 1 2 

If you will tie a string around your little finger, it will 

keep your nose from bleeding 1 1 

A string of coral beads put around a child’s neck will 

prevent it from having croup 1 1 

If you will wear a silk cord around your neck, it will 

prevent diseases of the throat 1 1 

If you tie a string around your finger, it will cure a 

spider bite -1 


114 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


.5 v 


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If the ribbon around a diploma comes untied, bad luck 


will result 1 1 

Do not break a knot, but pick it out for good luck 1 1 

A key worn suspended on a cord around the neck will 

prevent the nose-bleed 1 1 


In Germany the oldest girl in the family inherits a key 
which will cure all diseases. If it is put in a chicken - 

coop where there are sick chickens, it will cure them 1 1 


Shoes. 


It is accounted lucky to throw an old shoe after a person 
when we wish him to succeed in what he is about. ( Old English. 
See BrancVs Antiquities , Chap. IX, p. 94.) 


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If your shoe-string comes untied, some one is thinking 

about you 2 

* 

If your shoe-string comes untied, your most intimate 

gentleman friend is thinking of you 1 

If your shoe-string comes untied, it is a sign that your 

sweetheart is thinking about you 1 

If you put your right shoe on your left foot, you will 
have bad luck 1 

You will have bad luck if you lace up one shoe before 

you put the other one on 1 

If you throw rice or old shoes after a bridal couple, they 

will have good luck 14 3 

If a pair of shoes is placed on the table, good luck will 

follow 1 


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Do not place a pair of shoes on a shelf above your head, 
for it will cause bad luck, or it will be the sign of 
death 1 1 

If you turn your shoes upside down at night, it will 

cure rheumatism 1 1 

If you put your shoes under the edge of the bed at 

night, they will cure rheumatism 1 1 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


Q 

If, on retiring at night, you insert the toe of one shoe 
into the mouth of the other, and then place them 
under your bed, it will cure rheumatism 

If you put your shoes at the foot of the bed with the 
toes pointing away from the bed, you will sleep well 1 

If you wish to rid yourself of nightmare in your sleep, 
place your shoes side by side upon the floor at the 
foot of the bed so that the toes point away from the 
bed, and the difficulty will leave you 

If you fix your shoes at an angle of 45 degrees and 
enter bed backwards, you will dream of your future 
home 

If you wear your shoes out at the heel, you will be rich; 
if at the sides, you will be wise; if at the middle of 
the sole, you will be poor 


1 


1 • 


Precious Stones. 


Moonstones are very unlucky, and very few peo 
buy them. ( Southern France. ) 


Opals bring bad luck . 9 

Opals cause misfortune 1 

It will bring bad luck to wear an opal 6 4 

Opals are unlucky stones 1 2 

Opals are bearers of ill-luck 

Opals are signs of bad luck 1 

If you wear an opal, it will bring bad luck all the time 
you wear it 1 

An opal ring will bring bad luck 4 

Opals bring bad luck unless it is your birth-stone 8 2 

Opals bring bad luck to all not born in October 3 

Opal engagement rings bring bad luck 1 


Partial ^ : : Partial 

Belief 1- : : m i SSbf 


116 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 



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If 1 wear my opal ring on the engagement finger, I will 
have bad luck in love; therefore I wear it on the 
right hand 1 .... 1 

If an opal fades, the wearer will die 1 1 

Moonstones bring bad luck to the w r earer 112 

If a moonstone is your birth-stone, it will bring you 

good luck if worn 1 .... 1 

Pearls bring tears 2 2 

Pearls bring tears if one’s birthday is not in February 1 1 

If a topaz is worn, the wearer will have many friends 1 .... 1 

Special stones have great good in them 1 .... 1 

Always wear your birth-stone to bring you good luck .... 1 1 


Amulets and Charms. 


If you will wear a brass ring 


on the ring-finger, it will prevent 


you from having rheumatism. {Common in Middle States.) 


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Hang a nutmeg around your neck to cure rheumatism 

If you carry a nutmeg in your pocket, it is a sure charm 
against rheumatism 

A horse-chestnut carried in the pocket will cure rheu- 
matism 1 

You can prevent chills by wearing a horse-chestnut 1 

A horse-chestnut carried in the pocket will keep the 
owner well 

A nutshell hung around the neck prevents disease 1 

It is good luck to carry a chestnut in your pocket 

A bit of gum-camphor carried in the pocket will cure 
rheumatism 

If you steal a potato and carry it in your pocket, you 
will get rid of your rheumatism 1 


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1907] 


Dresslar. — -Superstition and Education. 


117 


A potato carried in a pocket will cure rheumatism 


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A potato carried in your pocket will keep away rheu- 
matism 


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* Wearing Clothes Wrong Side Out. 

If you put on an article of clothing wrong side out, it is unlucky 
to take it off for the purpose of changing before the customary 
time of removing. But if it must be changed, let another person 
take it off for you and turn right side out while removing. 
{Maine. Cf. Bergen, Current Superstitions , p. 80.) 


If you change a garment that has been put on wrong 
side out, it will bring bad luck 





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If one puts his hose on wrong side out and leaves it 
that way, he will have good luck; if he takes it off 
and puts it on right, he will have bad luck 5 5 


If a vest is put on wrong side out, it must not be re- 
moved until retiring, otherwise the owner’s luck will 
change 2 2 

It is bad luck to take off clothing which you put on 
wrong side out, unless, you whirl it around your head 
three times and make a wish 1 1 


If you put your rubbers in a dressing-room, it is a sign 

that they will be stolen 1 1 


If two persons wash and wipe together, they will quarrel .... 1 .... 1 

Wipe on the towel with another, 

And you will quarrel with or marry the other 1 1 


ft the wind blows your hat into a puddle, or any other 
such accident happens, you are sure to meet the 
friends you most dislike to see in such a condition 1 .... 1 

It is a sign of bad luck to put clothing on wrong side 

out 1 .... 1 


If you accidentally wear anything wrong side out, you 
will have good luck 


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118 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


If you happen to put an article of clothing on wrong 
side out, there will be a change in your luck 

If you wear a garment wrong side out, you will soon 


have a new one 1 .... 1 

If one puts on a garment wrong side out, he will have 

good fortune 2 7 2 11 

Accidentally putting on an article of clothing wrong 

side out, good luck will follow 1 1 .... 2 

If you put your clothes on wrong side out by mistake, 

and leave them so, you will have good luck 4 .... 4 

If I put my night-gown on wrong by mistake, and leave 

it so, the wish I make will come true 1 1 


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If you put your clothes on wrong side out accidentally, 
and leave them so, you will receive a present 

It is a sign of good news to put your clothes on wrong 


side out accidentally 1 1 

If you put any part of your clothing on inside out, it 

means that you will have a disappointment 1 1 


If by accident you put on a garment wrong side out, 
and then change it and desire to retain your former 
luck, you must spit on it and say, ‘ ‘ For bad luck, or 

for good ’ ’ 1 1 

To accidentally put one’s cape on wrong side out is a 

sign of good luck 1 ] 


Rings. 


“During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries a curious super- 
stition is said to have prevailed in England in regard to a ring 
which was said to hold a stone taken from an old toad’s head. 
It was claimed of this ring that whenever the person wearing it 
approached poison, the ring would indicate this by changing 
color, or by perspiring.” 


1907 ] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


119 


If you have your ring wished on and do not take it off 
until the time for the wish to come true has gone 
past, the wish will come true 

If you remove from your finger, before the proper time, 
a ring that has been wished on, the wish will not 
come true 

If you wish a ring on in order to secure success in a 
certain project, failure will follow if the ring is 
taken off before the project is carried out 

Taking a ring off another person’s finger will break 


your friendship 6 10 6 22 

Taking the ring off another person’s finger will cause 

trouble between the two persons 1 1 

It is unlucky to allow any one to take a ring from your 

finger 1 .... 2 3 

The losing of an engagement ring is a sign that some 

trouble will come up between the interested parties 1 .... 1 

It is bad luck to break, wear out, or lose a wedding ring 1 1 

Wearing an old silver ring always brings me bad luck 

the day it is worn 1 .... 1 


By rubbing a wart with a gold ring and at the same 
time wishing it away while looking at a new moon 

will cause the wart to disappear 1 1 

If you rub a sty with a gold ring, it will cause the sty 

to disappear 1 1 

If you have a sty coming on your eye, rub it three times 

with a gold ring and the sty will go away 2 .... 2 

If you rub a gold ring over a sty and make the sign of 


the cross, the sty will disappear 1 1 

A rheumatism ring will cure disease 1 .... .... 1 


The first young man a girl sees after she has turned 
sixteen diamond rings once around will be her hus- 
band, if he wears a blue necktie 1 


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120 University of California Publications in Education. ( Vo1 - 


5 


Money. 

You must spit on “luck money” to bring its true worth. 
( Northern England . ) 


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It will bring good luck to find a penny 2 

If you find a piece of money, keep it and it will bring 
you good luck 1 

Money found in a horse-track signifies wealth to come 

To find a new piece of money early in the morning will 
bring good luck 

If you find money and invest it in a lottery ticket, it is 
a sign that a larger amount will be won 1 

Carrying a coin in your pocket will bring more money .... 2 

It is good luck to find and keep an old coin 2 

Two pieces of money given bring close friendship and 
good luck to the giver and receiver 

A piece of money given by one who has good luck will 
bring good luck to him who receives it : 1 


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Wishing, Money, Bible, First Time. 


There is a stone called the wishing stone in a wood known as 
the Faybrick at Ashover, in Derbyshire. If you sit upon it and 
wish three times, your wish will be granted. (Abbott's House- 
hold Tales and Traditional Remains, p. 56.) 


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If you make a wish the same time that you eat the first 
of any fruit of the season, your wish will come true 




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If you wish into the corners of a new room, and notice 
the first corner to be seen next morning, the corre- 
sponding wish will come true 1 1 


If you sleep in a strange room, and have some one name 
the corners, the first corner seen next morning will 

reveal the name of your future husband 3 3 6 12 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


121 


If you dream anything during the night you sleep for 
the first time in a strange room, your dream will 
come true 

If you keep the first piece of money you get bearing the 

date of the new year, it will insure you good luck 1 .... 1 

When moving into a new house it is very good luck to 
take the Bible in first and take it through all the 

rooms 112 

If you will open the Bible at random, a certain verse 
will be found on the page which will be a special 


command or warning to you 1 .... 1 

A good beginning makes a bad ending 1 2 .... 3 

A bad beginning makes a good ending 1 1 .... 2 

The first impressions of a person are those you will 

always have of that person 1 .... 1 

If you do one thing wrong in the morning, the whole 

day will go wrong 1 1 


If in school your first recitation for the day is a good 
one, your other recitations will be good also; if you 
begin badly, you will continue so throughout the day .... 1 .... 1 

A wish made when treading where you have never been 


before will come true 1 1 

If you make a wish, the first time you step on a new 

sidewalk your wish will come true . 1 1 

Wishing on the first star seen at night brings the fulfill- 
ment of the wish 1 1 



Wish-bones. 

If two unmarried people break the wish-bone, the one who 
gets the shorter piece should put it above the door. The first 
unmarried person of the opposite sex entering will be the wished- 
for lover. ( Middle States.) 


122 


University of California Publications in Education. l Vo1 - 5 


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If you hang a wish-bone over the door, it will bring you 
good luck 


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A wish made while breaking a wish-bone will come true .... 5 .... 5 

If two persons make wishes when pulling at a wish-bone, 
the one who gets the larger piece will see the fulfill- 
ment of his wish 10 8 1 19 


If a wish-bone flies out between the two persons who are 


trying to break it, they will marry 1 

If you hang a wish-bone over a door, the first person 

passing under it will be your future mate 8 2 

If you hang a wish-bone over the door, the first person 
who comes in and shakes hands with you is the one 
whom you are to marry 1 


If two people wish and then break a wish-bone, the one 
who gets the straight piece will have his wish come 
true. If he who gets the bow will place it over the 
door, he may claim as his sweetheart the first one 
passing under it 1 

If you wish and get the larger piece of the wish-bone, 
hang it over the door; and the one who enters first 
will be your mate 1 

If you put the smaller piece of a wish-bone over a door, 
the first person that walks under it will be your 
future mate 1 

If a miner wishes on a wish-bone, and puts it over the 
door, the first unmarried person entering will be his 
future wife 1 


1 

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Death and Funerals. 

When a man dies his photographs will fade. (Irish.) 

If there be one death in the family, there will be two 

more before the year is out 2 2 

If one member of the family dies, another will soon 

follow, or else two more in the neighborhood will die 1 1 

If one death occurs in a neighborhood, there will be an- 
other in the same neighborhood before a week elapses 1 1 

<•> 


If you meet a hearse, it will be used for you soon 


1 


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1907] 


D resslar. — Superstition and Education. 


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If you meet a hearse, there will be a death in the family 4 110 

It is bad luck to let a funeral procession pass you 1 .... 1 2 

It is bad luck to cross the street between the carriages 

of a funeral procession 3 14 

It will cause a death in the family to go between the 

carriages of a funeral procession 1 2 .... 3 

It will bring bad luck to pass in front of a funeral pro- 
cession 5 6 .... 1 1 

If you pass in front of a funeral procession, it is a sign 

that one in your family will die soon 12 4 7 

If the horses trot in a funeral procession, there will be 

another death in the family soon 1 1 

If two white horses draw the hearse, there will be an- 
other death in the family soon 1 .... 1 2 


If a funeral procession stops before reaching the grave, 
there will be another death in the family within a 
year 1 

If a funeral procession stops before your house, it will 
bring death to your family 

To ride past a funeral procession, especially when you 
are mounted on a white horse, will bring death to 


your family soon 1 1 

It is bad luck to count the carriages in a funeral pro- 
cession 3 1 1 

If you count the carriages in a funeral procession, it 

will bring a death 1 1 


If you count the carriages in a funeral procession, there 

will be a death in your own family 9 5 

If you count the carriages in a funeral procession, one 

of your own family will die within a year’s time 2 2 

1 f you count the carriages in a funeral, you will soon 
follow 1 


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1 


To count the carriages in a funeral j recession means 

that within a year you will head one yourself 1 1 

It is bad luck to be the first one to enter the house after 

a corpse has been taken out 2 2 


124 University of California Publications in Education. n r °l. 5 


If you step across a grave, it means a death in your 
family 

One who, at a graveyard service, steps backward over 


If you are the last one to look into a grave, there will 


Never enter a graveyard after sunset; for if you do, you 


If a person is buried on a rainy day, there will be an- 
other death in that family within a year 

If a funeral be held in a church, and in order to get to 
the church from the home the funeral procession has 
to pass the cemetery, it is a sure sign that within a 
year another member of the family will die 

It is unlucky to ride behind a bob-tailed horse at a 
funeral 

If you play you are dead, you will surely die very soon.... 

If you see a dead body with one eye not closed, some one 


If a dead body does not get stiff, another in the family 
will soon die 


Dreams. 


come true. ( Ireland , New England.) 


If we dream, it will come true 

Bad dreams are the signs of bad luck 

Dreams which are clear enough to be remembered will 
come true 


No 

Belief 

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Full 

Belief 

Totals 

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1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


125 


If you dream the same thing three times, it will come 
true 

If a girl sleeps on a bit of wedding cake, she will dream 


Dream over wedding cake, and the one you dream of 
will be your future husband 

If, dreaming on wedding cake, you dream of the same 
person three nights in succession, you will some day 
marry that person 

Dream of wedding cake indicates a coming wedding 


If you dream of a wedding, you will go to a funeral 

To dream of a wedding is a sign that there will be a 
death in the family 

Dream of marriage in a family, there will be a death in 
the family 

If you dream of being married, there will soon be a 
death in your family 

If you dream about the marriage of a person, you will 
shortly hear of his death 

If you dream of a marriage, you will soon hear of a 
divorce 

If you dream of a person going to a wedding, that 
person will die 


If you dream of a dead person, you will receive an im- 
portant letter 

To dream of some one who is dead and see them living, 


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126 University of California Publications in Education. 

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To dream of a death means a wedding ..................... 

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If one dreams of a death, he will receive an invitation 





to a wedding soon 


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If you dream of a death, there will be a wedding in 





your family soon 

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If vou dream of death, you will be married 

1 


.... 

1 


To dream of any one as dead means misfortune or death 

to that person 1 .... 1 


When you dream of some dead person, you will hear of 


a new death 1 

If you dream of death, some of your friends will die 1 1 

To dream of death foretells death in the family 1 


1 

2 

1 


If you dream of a death in your family, either some one 
in the family or some friend is going to be married 

soon 1 1 


To dream of a gathering of some sort is a forerunner 

of some gathering which you are to attend 1 1 

If you have a bad dream about some one, it will come 

true 1 .... 1 

If you dream of a baby, you will have trouble 1 2 .... 3 

If you dream of a baby, you will hear of the death of 

a friend 1 .... 1 

If you dream of a colored person, you will have bad luck 1 1 

To dream of a black person is the sign of joyful news.... 2 2 

To dream of negroes means a sick spell 1 .... 1 2 

To dream of an enemy kissing you foretells deceitful 

treatment 1 .... 1 

It is a good omen to dream of a dear friend 1 .... 1 

If you dream of an absent friend, you will hear from 

him soon 2 .... 2 


If one dreams of seeing a friend that lives at a dis- 
tance, he is going to get a letter 2 2 

If you dream of your deceased grandmother, there will 

be a death in your family 3 1 


1907] 

Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


127 



2 *5 



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Belie 

Total 


If you dream of your mother, you will have good luck 1 .... 1 


If you dream of your mother, you will have good luck 1 .... 1 

It is bad luck to dream of birds 1 1 

If you dream of a dove, you will meet with bad luck 1 .... I 

If you dream of chickens, bad luck is sure to come 1 .... 1 

If a young lady dreams of fish, cats, chickens, or birds, 

her admirers will be plentiful next day 1 1 

If you dream of a carriage, it is a sign that you will 

have a very long, tiresome walk 1 1 

If you dream of seeing a lively good-looking team drive 

in, you will hear good news 1 1 

If you dream that you see a slow, lean team drive up to 

the door, you will have bad news 1 1 

If a person dreams of riding swiftly on a horse, he is to 

have a pleasant surprise 1 1 

If you dream of horses, you will have good luck 2 .... 2 

If you dream of prancing horses, it is a sign of bad luck .... 1 .... 1 

To dream of horses is a sign that you will have trouble 

with men 1 1 

If you dream of black horses, you will have bad luck 1 .... 1 

If you dream of black horses, it is the sign of death 1 2 .... 3 

If you dream of a white horse, you will hear of a wed- 
ding 1 .... 1 


To dream of a white horse is the sign of death 2 3 .... 5 

If you dream of a white horse, it signifies that you will 

soon hear of the death of a friend or relative 1 .... 1 


If you dream of some one riding on a white horse, that 
person will die soon : 1 

If you dream of cattle, money will come unexpectedly .... I 

It is the sign of bad luck to dream of cats 1 


1 

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I 


To dream of a cat is the sign that you have a deceitful 


friend 1 

If you dream of mice, ill-luck will befall you 1 

To dream of snakes is the sign of bad news 1 


1 

1 

1 


128 University of California Publications in Education. [ Vo1 - 


5 


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If you dream of snakes, it is a warning that evil is to 
befall you 2 

To dream of snakes is a sign of sickness 

If you dream of snakes, it indicates a coming death in 


the family 1 

If you dream of snakes, you have an enemy 17 


If you dream of snakes, you have an unknown enemy 

If you dream of snakes, you will quarrel with your 
friends 1 

If one dreams of a snake, it signifies that he has an 
enemy who will harm him 

To dream of a snake means that some one you think is 
your friend is your enemy 

If you dream of snakes, it means that you have a foe; 
and the first person entering the house with a dress 
on like the snake’s skin is the foe 

If you dream of killing snakes, you will conquer your 
enemies 2 


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Dream of snakes — sign of an enemy. If you overcome 
the snakes, your enemy will not harm you ; if the 

snakes bite you, look out for your enemy 1 1 

To dream of a snake is a sign you have an enemy. If 
you kill the snake, you will conquer your enemy; but 

if it remains alive, your enemy will conquer 1 1 

If you dream about spiders, you have enemies 1 .... 1 

To dream of spiders is a sign you are going to get a 

sum of money 1 1 

To dream of seeing a spider coming toward you signifies 

that you will receive money 1 1 

If you dream of flies, there will be sickness in the family 

soon 112 


To dream of insects and bugs is a sure sign of sickness 1 1 

If you dream of lice, you will get some money 1 1 

It is a sure sign of sickness to dream of a louse 2 1 


3 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


129 




Dream of lice, and you will hear of the death of some 

relative 1 

If you dream of eggs, good luck will be your fortune .... 1 

If you dream of eggs, you will have money come to you .... 2 

To dream of eggs brings bad luck 1 

It means riches to dream of eggs 2 

To dream of rotten eggs is a sign of death 1 

If you dream of eggs, you will quarrel next day 1 

If you dream of a decayed tooth, you w T ill have bad luck 1 

If you dream of a filled tooth, you will hear of a death 1 

To dream that you are having a tooth pulled means that 

you are soon going to lose a dear friend 1 1 

If you dream of your teeth falling out, you will have 

bad luck 1 1 

Dream of a tooth dropping out — sign of death 1 

Dream of losing your teeth, sign a dear friend will die 2 12 

Dream of losing a tooth, some one in your family is 

going to die 1 .... 1 

Dream of getting a letter, you will immediately receive 

one 1 

If you dream of receiving a letter, you wall be disap- 
pointed before the day is over 1 

If you dream of riding on a train, you will receive a 

letter 1 

If a person dreaming of falling strikes the bottom of 

whatever he is falling into, he dies 1 

To dream of a voyage is a sign that you will receive 

money soon 1 

A relative will die if you dream of sailing on the ocean 1 

If you dream of being dressed in w T hite, it means sick- 
ness is near you 1 

If you dream of a person being dressed in white with 

black trimmings, you will hear of a death 1 


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130 University of California Publications in Education. 


a> 


If you dream of white gloves, it signifies dangerous ill- 
ness or death' in the family 1 


When you take your shoes off at night, if you turn the 


toes toward the bed, you will have bad dreams; if 

you turn them from the bed, good dreams follow 

If you dream of washing dirty clothes, it is a sign of 
sickness in the family 1 

If you dream of looking into a looking-glass, it is the 
sign of disgrace 1 

To dream of music means pleasure 

To dream you hear sweet music is good luck 1 

If you dream of a feast, it is the sign of a famine 1 

To dream of eating or drinking is a sign of trouble 2 


If one dreams of a banquet, he will soon hear of the 
death of a friend 

To dream of attending school is a sign of advancement 


and good fortune 1 

To dream of money brings good luck 1 

To dream of finding money is a bad sign 

It is said that dreaming of money indicates that we will 
hear bad news 1 

If you dream of money, it is a sign of enemies 1 

It is a sign of sickness to dream of money 1 

If you dream of gold or silver, good luck; paper money 
or copper, bad luck 1 

To dream of finding money is a good omen : if in large 
gold pieces, very good; if in small pieces, not so good 1 

Dream of raw meat, and you will hear of a death 1 

Dreaming of blood signifies that death will soon follow .... 1 


To dream of fresh dirt is a sign of sickness or death 

If you dream of mud, you will have trouble 1 

To dream of mud is the sign of death 

To dream of wading in black mud is ill-fate 


Partial 

Belief 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


131 


To dream of mountains or other elevations is good luck 

To dream of seeing a dark and murky sky is a sign of 
trouble 

To dream of an eclipse of the sun is the sign your 
father will die : 

To dream of an eclipse of the moon is a sign your 
mother will die 

It is the sign of joy to come to dream of snow 

To dream of snow is a sign of death 

If you dream of water, a journey will follow 

To dream of water means sickness in the family 

If you dream of water, some one in the family will die 
before the end of the year 

If one dreams of still water, it is a sign good luck will 
follow, and vice versa 

It is good luck to dream of flowing water 

If you dream of clear water, you will have good luck .... 

If you dream of clear water, it is a sign there is going 
to be a wedding in the family. If you dream of 
muddy water, it is a sign of a death in the family .... 

You will have trouble in your business affairs if you 
dream of rough waters 

To dream of muddy water is a sign of trouble 

If you dream of muddy water, you will have trouble 
soon 

To dream of muddy water signifies that some dire ca- 
lamity will befall you 

If you dream of muddy water you will hear bad news .... 

If you dream of muddy water, you will hear of a death 


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Dream of crossing muddy water is a sign of trouble 

Dream of falling into muddy water, sign of an enemy .... 


1 


132 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


It means hasty news to dream of a fire 

It is a sign of sorrow to dream of fire 

If you dream of a fire, you will have a fight 

If you dream of a fire, you will have an angry fit the 
next day 

To dream of a fire brings bad news to your dearest 
friend 

There will be a death in the family if you dream of fire 

It is a good omen to dream of a bright fire 

To dream that the house is on fire means that some 
danger will happen to one of the family 


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If you see your own house burning in your dreams, it is 
a good omen ; but if it is not your house, it is a bad 

omen 1 .... 1 

If you dream of black smoke, it is a sign of quarrels 1 1 

If you dream of a candle going out, somebody is going 

to die 1 1 

What you dream during the first night you sleep in a 

new house will come true 6 5 2 1 3 


It is a favorable omen to dream of plucking flowers 

To dream of plucking flowers in a garden signifies that 
the person so dreaming is given to vanity 

To dream of eating fruit or plucking flowers is a sign 


of death 1 1 

To dream of fruit out of season 

Means trouble without reason 2 2 .... 4 


Save part of the fruit you have in a piece of fruit cake 
you are eating ; put it in your right stocking, and 
then put them under your pillow, and you will dream 

of your future husband 1 1 

To dream of overcoming difficulties is a good omen 1 .... 1 

Dream of bad luck, and it is good luck, and vice versa .... 1 1 

If you tell your dreams, they will come true 1 1 

It. is unlucky to tell dreams before breakfast 2 2 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


133 


v 43 
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If you tell a dream before breakfast, it will come true.... 8 6 

If you tell a dream before breakfast, it will come true 

•/ * 

before night 1 1 

If you tell your dream before breakfast, it will come 

true before day is over 1 

If one tells his dream before breakfast, it will not come 
true 1 

If you tell your dreams before breakfast, you will dream 

them again that night 1 

If you tell a dream in the morning before you take a 
drink, it will not come true 1 

If you tell dreams before drinking in the morning, it is 

a sign of bad luck 

If you tell your dream, some one in the family will be 

sick 

What is dreamed on Thursday night and told before 
breakfast on Friday will come true if ever so old 1 

Friday night ’s dream on Saturday told 

Will be sure to come true, be it ever so old 2 3 

i 

Saturday night’s dream Sunday morning told 
Will come to pass before a week old 2 

If you dream of angels, you will soon die 1 

The man of whom you dream on St. Agnes’ night will 
be your future husband 1 


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Spiritisms. 


“The girls had their omens, too; they felt strange kisses on 
their lips ; they saw rings in the candle, purses bounded from the 
fire, and true-love knots lurked at the bottom of every tea-cup.” 
(Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield, Chap. X.) 


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A house having a corpse buried under it will be haunted 1 

There is a belief in a return of spirits to haunt houses 
or people 1 


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134 University of California Publications in Education, i V()1 - r > 


A house in which a murder has been committed will be 

haunted 1 .... 1 

Houses where crimes have occurred are haunted 1 3 

If a person is murdered, his spirit and ghost will appear 

until the murderer is punished 1 1 

There are such things as ghosts 4 4 

If a sailor sees a ghost in the rigging, it portends bad 

luck 1 1 

While walking if you meet an apparition of yourself, it 

is a sign you are going to die 1 1 

To hear the “Banshee” cry is a sure sign of death 1 1 

If the Banshee cries at night, there will be a death in 

the house 1 3 

Spirits communicate with their friends 1 .... 1 

Witches or spirits cannot follow you across running- 

water 1 1 


The spirit of the person that is buried on a stormy day 

will rest 1 1 

Little yellow T patches in the lawn are fairy rings. Here 

the fairies dance on moonlight nights 1 1 

1 have a foreboding of any calamity that ever happens 

to me, e.g., great calamities 1 1 

1 have a foreboding of coming happenings 1 3 


If a rumb3ing sound is heard by you — inaudible to 
others near you, — it is a sign of an approaching 

death in the family 3 1 

If a singing noise is heard by you — inaudible to others 


near you, — it is a sign of approaching good luck in 

the family 3 .... 3 

If a sick person thinks he is away from home, it is a 

sure sign of his death 3 .... 3 

A person who is about to meet a sudden death sees his 

coffin 3 1 

If you think very hard of some one a long way from 

you, he will do what you are thinking of 1 .... 3 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


135 


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If any one wishes for something which you possess, you 
will have bad luck with that particular object 1 

If you imagine you have a disease, you are apt to get it .... 


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If children play that they are ill, they are very likely 


to become ill 1 .... 1 

If you talk of a person, he will appear 1 1 

Speak of angels, and they are sure to appear 1 .... 1 


There are persons capable of inflicting injury by looking 
at one (the evil eye) 1 


1 


If you believe one is possessed of the ‘ ‘ evil eye, ’ * you 
must make the sign of horns when that person is 


mentioned or looks at you 1 1 

A very black darky is apt to have the evil eye, and if 

ill-tempered, will turn out to be a conjurer 1 .... 1 


Kock an empty chair, and soon a member of your family 

will die 3 3 

If you rock an empty chair, some one in the house will 

soon die 1 1 


If a rocking-chair rocks when no one is sitting in it or 


is rocking it, bad luck in the family will soon occur 1 1 

If a rocking-chair is allowed to rock unoccupied, it is a 

sign of bad luck 1 1 

The falling of a picture face down indicates the death 

of the original within the year 1 1 

If one’s picture falls from the wall, the one of whom it 

is will soon die 1 1 

If the frame falls from a picture, death is nigh 1 1 

If a picture fades, it is a sign the person whose picture 

it is is dead 1 T 

If you turn any one’s picture to the wall, it will cause 

something to happen to him 1 .... J 

tf a picture or a mirror falls from the wall without an 

apparent cause, it portends a death in the family 1 1 .... 2 

Tf a candle goes out without apparent cause, some one 

is dying 1 1 


136 University of California Publications in Education. 


Vol.5 



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If there is heard a sound of something heavy falling 
and you cannot find what it was, there then occurred 
at that instant some near relative’s death 1 


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When a person dies, a white ball can be seen leaving 

the house . 1 1 

A sure sign of death is when three distinct raps are 

heard in the house where one is sick 2 2 


You may foretell the future by means of cards or horo- 
scope 1 1 

Your fortune can be told with a pack of cards 2 4 .... 6 

There is a belief that some people are able to predict 

your future 1 1 

Hoodoo the persons you are playing against in a game 

of cards by tapping under the table, and the game 

is yours 1 .... 1 

*/ 


If you play marbles, christen your taw, and it will bring 

you good luck 1 

| 

If a gambler can obtain the second finger of a woman’s 
hand, he will win at cards 1 

To speak of never having had bad luck in a certain 
thing, unless wood is knocked three times bad luck 
will come 1 


1 

1 


1 


If you should say, ‘ ‘ I was never sick in my life,” you 
might be so, to be sure; to prevent it, rub your 


finger on wood three times 1 .... 1 

If a member of the family is ill, it is unlucky if a place 

is not set for him at the table 1 1 

Those who are suddenly awakened from sleep leave their 

souls wliere they were when awakened 1 1 

Make a cross with your fingers over any one’s aim, and 

he will miss 1 1 


Diseases or infirmities may be charmed away 1 I 

The largest watermelon in the patch should never be 

taken at night, as it is the abode of the “debble” .... 1 1 

Holding the hands a certain way during a quiz always 

brings a favorable question 1 .... 1 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


137 


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The wounds of a murdered person will bleed afresh at 

the approach of the murderer 1 1 

The images of St. Joseph blessed and dipped into holy 
water by the priests will bring good luck to the 
wearer 1 1 

The king’s touch will cure scrofula 1 1 

To hear a ticking noise in the room means that your 

minutes are numbered 1 1 

If you hear the tick of a woodtick at night, some one in 

the family will die 1 1 

An unaccountable crack brings bad luck 1 1 

If the house or some piece of furniture cracks loudly at 

night, it foretells some calamity in the near future 1 1 

If a knock is heard at the head of the bed or in the wall, 

death will soon follow I 1 


If a sudden hush comes over an assembly of people, it is 
a sign some one is walking over the future grave of 
one of the number 1 1 

When talking, if you accidentally speak some one’s 
name, it is a sign the person whose name you have 

spoken is thinking or talking about you 12 14 

Holding the breath and thinking of one who loves you 

will stop the hiccough 2 2 

If you choke while telling something, you are telling 


a lie 1 I 

If a glass breaks of its own accord just after a rich 
person has drunk out of it, that person will die im- 
mediately 1 1 

If a door slams, it signifies a death 1 1 

Should the door open when there is no one there to open 

it, it is a sign of an unwelcome visitor 1 .... 1 

If you will put a book under your pillow, you will know 

your lesson in the morning 1 .... 1 

If a shiver runs up your back, some one is walking over 

your grave 1 2 .... 3 

A sudden feeling of depression means that some one is 

walking over your grave 1 .... 1 


138 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 




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If you cannot finish your sentence, it is a sign that you 

have told a lie 1 


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1 


If any one covets your horse, it will die. (“I know an 
intelligent German who sold a valuable horse for $20 

because a man said that he wished he owned it”) .... 1 1 

If you turn a person’s picture toward the Avail, it will 

cause something to happen to him 1 .... 1 

If, after you have begun a piece of work, you are seized 
with a feeling that you should not do it, you should 

yield to this presentiment 1 1 


Weddings. 

Never marry when the sign is in the crayfish ; if you do, you 
will go backwards. {North Carolina.) 

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It is unlucky to postpone a wedding 1 2 .... 3 

Bad luck to be married on one’s birthday 1 .... 1 

Marriages in May are unlucky 1 1 

If a bride steps on the threshold, it will bring her bad 

luck 1 1 

If it rains on your wedding day, you will have bad luck 14 2 7 

If it rains on your wedding day, it is a sign of future 

trouble 7 5 .... 12 

A rainy wedding day always brings an unhappy married 

life 1 2 .... 3 

To be married on a rainy day means prosperity 1 1 

il Happy the bride that the sun shines on” 1 1 .... 2 

If the sun shines on a bride during the ceremony, she 

will ha\ r e a happy married life 1113 

In marriage, if the young lady 

Change the name, and not the letter, 

Changes for Avorse, and not for better 1 2 .... 3 

A double wedding signifies that some one of the con- 
tracting parties Avill die before the year is out 112 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


To overtake a bridal party is bad luck 1 

It is bad luck to be married in black 

To marry in green will bring bad luck the rest of the 


life 

If you wear black on a wedding day, you will bring bad 
luck to the bride 1 

If a bride puts on all her wedding ‘‘rig” before her 
wedding, she will have bad luck 1 


It is unlucky for a bride to look in the glass after she 
is dressed for the ceremony 


If you wear orange blossoms before you are a bride, you 
never will be one 1 

The one who catches the bride ’s boquet when it is 
thrown will be a bride herself within a year 4 


The one who takes the last stitch in a wedding dress will 
be the next one to be married 


It is luck to be married in 

Something old, something new, 

Something borrowed, something blue 1 

To have good luck when you are married 

Wear something old and something new, 

Something gold and something blue 1 

She who wears the garter the bride wore on her wedding 
day will be married within a year 1 


A bride should wear a piece of silver money in her shoe 
to bring good luck 

The persons getting the coin in a wedding cake will be 
the next couple to be married 1 

She who first takes a pin out of the bride’s veil will be 

the first to marry 

«/ 

You will never have good luck as long as you keep your 
wedding clothes 1 

If a girl who is to be married has her linen marked 
with the name of her fiance, she will never have occa- 
sion to use it 1 


Belief 


140 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


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If a coffin is borne within sight of a bridal train, they 
must go home, or they will have bad luck all their 
lives 


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1 1 


It is bad luck for a bride or groom to see a funeral on 
their wedding day. One of the two will not live the 

year out 1 .... 1 

If one in going to his wedding should have to go back 
before the church was reached, bad luck would be 


sure to come during married life 1 1 

If you eat bacon the first breakfast after marriage (or 
after entering a new house), it will bring you bad 

luck 1 1 


Initials. 


If the initials of a person’s name form a word, that 
person will become wealthy 3 

The initials arranged so as to spell a word gives the 
owner of the house good luck, prosperity, and riches 
through life 1 ] 



V 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education 


141 


CHAPTER III. 

WHAT IS SUPERSTITION ? 

1. It is a willingness and a pliyletic, instinctive desire to 
believe in certain causal relations, which have not and cannot be 
proved to exist through a course of reasoning, through revelation 
or through direct observation. It will be seen that this definition 
does not refer to the future. It would be unwarranted and un- 
scientific to define it as a willingness to believe in certain causal 
relations which never will be proved to exist. Man is never more 
ridiculous, and indeed, never more superstitious, than when he 
comes to believe that the horizon of his so-called scientific vision 
is co-extensive, even in one direction, with all that is possible. I 
have met intelligent people who have boldly declared full belief 
in every superstition here recorded. “Why not?” they say. “Is 
it any more unscientific to believe in what one does not know 
than to disbelieve in it ? Besides, have we not, through our faith 
in the sanity and honesty of the common mind, some worthy 
ground for believing in the essential truth of the accumulated 
faith of the ages?” One can only reply by saying that it is 
neither necessary to believe nor to disbelieve. True it is, that 
this is a most annoying and fatiguing position to be in, and no 
one seems to be able to retain it for any length of time. There 
is no denying, however, that it is a thinkable position, even if it 
be wholly impracticable to continue in it. 

2. Superstitions grow out of a naive belief in the all-perva- 
siveness of mind or spirit, and the possibility that man may know 
this universal mind through the suggestions made to him by the 
common things and events about him. 

To the folk mind, all things animate and inanimate are akin, 
in that they possess in one form or another the ability to under- 
stand man, to sympathize with him, and to communicate with 
him. Man believes all things share in a sort of common mind 
which is only more explicitly and completely individualized in 
his own personal power. But along with this belief in his own 
general superiority, there exists a definite recognition that each 


142 Uni versify of California Publications in Education. [ Vo1 - 


thing* or event may possess in some form, under certain condi- 
tions, an insight keener and more far-reaching than he can com- 
mand. For example, he who believes that rats know what sort 
of a voyage the ship is to have even before it leaves port, and 
will desert it if there be danger ahead, must also believe that if 
sailors will only learn to read and heed the hints of these roden- 
tial prophets, navigation will be shorn of some of its dangers. 
That this and similar beliefs concerning the clairvoyant power of 
animals is held by many intelligent people, cannot be doubted for 
a moment. Furthermore, men believe that through the accidental 
conditions or reflex behavior of their own bodies they may get 


telepathic and prophetic revelations which will greatly extend 
their powers of knowing. “If a rigor runs up your back, it is 
to tell you a rabbit is running over your grave.” Or “If your 
ears burn, some one is talking about you. If the left ear burns, 
it is to tell you that people are saying bad things about you.” 
“If you stub your toe, it is to tell vou bad luck is coming.” 

The ability to understand the revelations of this pervasive 
mind depends on the power to interpret the language of sticks 
and stones, of birds and beasts, and all multifarious phenomena 
of existence. Since these things may know and reveal things be- 
yond his personal ken, they are in so far man’s rightful guides, 
and to them he owes corresponding obedience and fealty. Those 
things which appear to him oftenest and are at the same time 
naturally suggestive of some capability not possessed by himself 
are those through which he claims to learn most and about which 
he weaves his superstitions. This is well illustrated by the ex- 
amples given which refer to animals. The cat, for example, with 
its noiseless tread, its strange vision, its nocturnal habits, and 
almost universal presence, is the one which probably takes first 
place among all animals in superstitious lore. 

3. There is in superstitious feelings a strong element of fear. 
This fear is based on a sort of unconscious belief that the whole 
machinery of the universe is in the hands of the Gods, and that 
they, for unknown reasons and according to their own pleasure, 
can bring upon man good or bad luck, great joy or tribulations. 
This fear varies in intensity with mental and physical conditions. 
It is likely to be much stronger when the body is tired, or sick, or 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


143 


when the mind is ill at ease and worried about something. It is 
usually stronger at night than in the day time and greatly exag- 
gerated by long continued separation from all social intercourse, 
such as the sheep-herders experience when they follow their flocks 
into uninhabited regions. 

4. Superstitions represent in part those conclusions which 
men have adopted in order to free the mind from the strain of 
incompleted thinking. Men are naturally driven to conclusions 
regarding the meaning and significance of those phenomena which 
appear in their minds. There can be no physiological or psycho- 
logical equilibrium unless the mind comes to rest in a conclusion. 
It is both physically and mentally very tiring to hold in the mind 
a series of conditions and at the same time prevent them from 
shooting together into some sort of denoument. The untrained 
and instinctive mind reaches conclusions quickly, for this tem- 
porarily is the line of least resistance. Thus it may reach quasi 
generalizations for itself, or, what is more usually the case, it may 
accept the generalizations passed down to it by tradition, for it 
is easier to accept an explanation authoritatively given than to 
frame one. 

All this is illustrated clearly in the mental development of a 
child. Its reactions come immediately on the presentation of 
mental stimuli and with the least waste of nervous energy. The 
child cannot and will not hold in abeyance for any length of time 
the mental presentations it receives, for to do so would demand 
a mental preparation it does not possess and a power it cannot 
exert. It must either rest in its own child-like conclusions, or, 
what is more often the case, it begs for relief by asking for in- 
numerable answers from its elders. Every one will recall the 
definite pleasure a child experiences when his questions are an- 
swered. Almost any answer will do, because it sets the mind at 
rest. At a later stage of development when the analytical powers 
are developing and each phenomenon begins to resolve itself into 
a multiplicity of conditions the answers are not satisfying unless 
they are more explicit and reasonable. But it will be observed 
that with the folk, as with children, when a definition has once 
been accepted from an authoritative source, it may be retained 
long after the power has developed to see its limitations. This 


144 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


is why most of our reconstruction must come through corrective 
thinking and action. When we see that a definition or a general- 
ization will not suffice when put to a practical test, and when we 
can repress our instinctive feelings to believe in it regardless of 
reason, then we are ready for a new one. All this mass of super- 
stitious belief has been handed down from generation to gener- 
ation and clearly shows the desire of the mind to relieve itself 

«/ 

by means of conclusions already made. No individual can com- 
mand sufficient energy to go it alone, even if he had such a desire. 
Truth is evasive and can only be reached by the masses through 
piecemeal corrections of an earlier faith. 

There is infinite rest in believing in something, even if that 
something will at some future day prove insufficient. There is 
even great relief in the belief that one is traveling the right path, 
though the end be not in sight. A theory considered in this sense 
is an hygienic necessity, for it satisfies the inherent demand 
for temporary conclusions and brings a mental equilibrium essen- 
tial to united personality. The greatest agnostics soon seek rest 

in dogmatism, for they commonly insist beyond the perad venture 
of a doubt that their position is the only one any rational being 
can hold, and they alone have been consistent in argument and 
observation. They try to shield themselves from this criticism, 
however, by accepting the dictum that all truth is dogmatic. The 
fact is, the human organism is so constructed that it must “ serve 
God or Mammon." It is impossible for it to function and main- 
tain its integrity intact, when the mind rests in no conclusions 
and therefore wills to do nothing. Disintegration is the only 
possible outcome to consistent agnosticism. It is only the over- 
wrought and unhealthy mind that will not or cannot come to 
conclusions. “Sicklied over with the pale cast of thought” is a 
striking characterization of one who is afraid to come to a de- 
cision, fearful lest the conclusion reached will not represent 
completely and exhaustively all of the conditions. Such a mental 
stage begets a nervous tension which rapidly uses up the vital 
energy, and in the end comes to nothing but distress. A complete 
and healthy mental life must develop through piecemeal thinking 
and corrective doing. 

The educational implication of this is very important and all 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


145 


inclusive. When the generalizations of the adult mind are given 
as rules to govern the young, there is of necessity a lack of under- 
standing, which can be corrected onlv by a more or less shortened 
attempt to work it out through experimentation, or (to use a 
better term in this connection) through corrective action. The 
laboratory, the shop, and all other practicable opportunities for 
application, and even life as a whole, are pedagogical necessities 
of prime importance in order to afford those necessary require- 
ments which sound and natural learning demands. 

Belief in superstition is closely associated with narrow expe- 
rience, unscientific observation, the undue persistence of early 
conclusions, and the natural tendency of the mental life to reduce 
experience to rules or generalizations for guidance in practical 
life. 

5. Finally, it is probable that we are not far from the truth 
when we say that superstition is that form of emotional credulity 
prompted by an emotional predisposition which had its origin in 
adjustments to physical conditions long since passed away. In 
other words, it seems to be a belated expression of human pro- 
gress, and harks back to that stage in development when the 
physical life was adjusted to a conscious life just beginning its 
quest for a knowledge of cause and effect. It is an emotional 
remnant which persists in spite of the present day development 
of rational control. 


146 University of California Publications in Education. IWol. 5 


CHAPTER IV. 

BELIEF IN SUPEKSTITIONS. 

In attempting to estimate the amount of credence given to 
superstitions we have as data upon which to base a judgment 
7,176 separate, specific, and reliable confessions, made by 875 
different individuals. These confessions were secured in such a 
way, and under such conditions, which we have explained else- 
where, as to reflect as nearly the true mental state of these people 
in this respect as they were able to make it known. Each one 
was asked to express his belief or disbelief in each separate super- 
stition he returned, for it was felt that in no other way could one 
so nearly approximate the amount of belief given. We have, 
then, in these 7,176 confessions honest reports concerning belief 
in specific examples, rather than a summary of general estimates, 
and must manage the statistics accordingly. For example, we 
have no way by which we can know precisely how many of these 
875 people could say, ‘ ‘ I believe in none, ' ' or of how many there 
were who would be compelled to admit belief in all of them, 
nevertheless, as we have shown at some length in the chapter on 
Luck (see pp. 164 f.), the probability is very great that almost all 
both believe and disbelieve. With few exceptions, there are for 
each person certain individual superstitions which he cannot 
scorn and cannot with truthfulness declare himself to disbelieve. 
What one believes in another may not, and for this reason it 
would not represent the general state of superstitious faith to 
reckon with the yeas and nays returned by any group of indi- 
viduals upon a selected list of superstitions. It is better to seek 
to know the reactions of each upon those which are present in his 
own mind than to force a response on any common list. Let us, 
then, examine the figures obtained under the conditions which we 
have thus outlined: As has been said, we have 7,176 separate 

confessions to reckon with. Of these 3,951 are frank expressions 
of disbelief, 2,132 of partial belief, and 1,093 of full belief. Com- 
bining those of partial and full belief, we have 3,225 confessions 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


147 


of belief as against the 3,951 of disbelief, or 55.1 per cent, of dis- 
belief to 44.9 per cent of belief. It must be steadily held in mind 
that these figures do not refer to persons, but to the combined 
confessions made on different groups of the whole of the super- 
stitions listed. In other words, the attitude of this very select 
and uniform class of people toward their own superstitions can 
be very nearly represented by saying that 55.1 per cent, of the 
superstitions which they hold in mind are not believed in, while 
44.9 per cent, are believed in. These figures seem so extraordi- 
nary that one would be inclined to doubt their correctness were 
it not for the fact that every suggested precaution has been taken 
to reduce the possibility of error. That they represent the whole 
truth, no one who has made any serious attempt in the field of 
folk psychology could for a moment maintain. But because of 
the almost universal tendency of the human mind to sparingly 
acknowledge its own weaknesses and shortcomings, it is safe to say 
that we have here an under-estimation, rather than an exagger- 
ation of belief in superstition. It may be a source of no little 
uneasiness in the minds of those who believe in the rationalizing 
power of education to know that nearly half of the superstitions 
held in the minds of young people of this class beget reactions 
compelling belief. And it is the more disturbing when it is re- 
called that it describes the mental condition of those who pass as 
educated people, and most of whom are at this moment teachers 
in our public schools. Furthermore, it is fair to the schools of 
our State, and to the individuals furnishing this data, to say that 
the educational and professional standards set for the teachers of 
our elementary schools are, with a very few exceptions, not ex- 
celled anywhere. 4 ‘If then,” one is impelled to inquire, “this 
amount of superstitious faith exists amongst the individuals of 
such a select class, what must be the mental condition in this 
regard of those who have not had equal opportunities for devel- 
oping those reactions which tend toward arousing disbelief in the 
unreasonable ? ’ ’ 

If we attempt to answer this question out of our general faith 
in the reconstructive power of education, we shall most certainly 
do an injustice to the “uneducated” class. No system of edu- 
cation has been devised, and none seems possible, which can in the 


148 University of California Publications in Education. [ Vo1 - 5 


life of the individual so enthrone the reason as to permanently 
subordinate those feelings which compel belief in superstitions. 
The probability is great, therefore, that there is less fundamental 
difference in the faith of the educated and those uneducated than 
we have been anxious and willing to believe. By this it is not 
meant to say that education counts for naught, nor that we should 
devise a wholly new plan of instruction and development in order 
to hasten human evolution. But we need to realize very fully in 
these days of educational fervor that it is possible to over-estimate 
the basic changes wrought by instruction and training. It is cer- 
tainly true that both our educational philosophy and practice 
need much reconstruction before we can rightly claim that we 
have done all in our power to hasten mental evolution. But it is 
of great importance to all who are interested in the work of 
education to fully realize that the inherited reactions of human 
nature are not readily and easily changed, and especially by 
anv svstem of artificial exercises. Were it otherwise, rational 
progress would be impossible and human society non-existent. 
Vignoli emphasizes this truth in a much more vigorous and 
sweeping fashion when he says: “I maintain that the mythical 

faculty still exists in all men, independently of their survival of 
old superstitions, to whatsoever people and class they may be- 
long; and it will continue to exist as an innate function of the 
intelligence, if not with respect to substance, which may alter, at 
any rate in the mode of its acts and proceedings.'’ (See T. 
Vignoli, Myth and Science , Intern. Sci. Series, pp. 3-4). While 
I believe this last statement is faulty and indefinite in certain 
regards, and is based on what seems to be a rather archaic con- 
ception of mind, there is no denying the truth that mythical and 
superstitious predisposition is present as an element in human 
nature under whatever condition humanity has existed. Perhaps 
Owen Wister has expressed, in the Virginian , this thought in a 
more suggestive and convincing way to the average mind when 
he says : “I expect in many growed-up men you ’ d call sensible 

there's a little boy sleepin’ — the little kid that onced was — that 
still keeps his fear of the dark.” 

During the progress of this study I have had the opportunity 
to discuss this subject with many people of all classes, a few of 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


149 


whom have seemed entirely free from any kind of superstitious 
belief, and could say so without disturbing their consciences in 
the least, or without exciting the doubts of those who heard their 
professions of faith. But the great masses of the “educated” as 
well as the “uneducated” cannot truthfully declare themselves 
out of the bonds of superstitious faith and belief. Even many 
who see that such things are entirely unreasonable and foolish 
are unable to get the consent of their feelings to warrant an un- 
equivocal expression of disbelief. And here we reach a funda- 
mental consideration touching belief in superstitions. Almost 
without an exception, each individual is so organized that he 
cannot prevent the development of those reactions which make 
for belief, when certain superstitions are dropped into his mind. 
For such reactions are neither under control of the will nor sub- 
ject to the negating influence of reason. They are so peculiarly 
organic and compelling that they beget feelings which so domi- 
nate the conscious life they cannot be put aside voluntarily or 
overcome by any show of scientific disapproval. Take for ex- 
ample a case which has come under my own observation — that of 
a woman, who, by reason of a sudden indisposition on the part 
of one of her invited guests, found herself ready to sit at table 
with twelve others. Upon recognition of this undesirable sit- 
uation, she grew nervous and pale and at first was too much 
ashamed of her weakness to announce to the company the true 
cause of her uneasiness. And yet despite the feelings of disgrace 
which she seemed to know must attach to such behavior, she could 
not resist the impulse to quiet her soul by presiding over the 
company from a conveniently arranged side table. Perhaps it 
is wholly unfair to our natures to speak of disgrace as attaching 
to such an unwilling response to ethnic demands, and yet in this 
counter feeling of shame-facedness there are the germs of a force 
which in time will join with reason to help free us from the bonds 
of foolish faith. 

But let us inquire in a more definite and searching way into 
the causes which lead people to believe in superstitions. In this 
connection there are two main points to consider, and these may 
be stated as follows : 

1. The compelling force of emotional bias is a large element 


150 University of California Publications in Education. [ Vol. r> 


in bringing about the acceptance of conclusions, especially those 
recommended by tradition. 

2. It is an hygienic necessity for the mind to come to rest in 
conclusions. 

When the brilliant French writer wrote, 44 1 do not believe in 
ghosts, but I am afraid of them,’’ she stated very cleverly the 
attitude of a trained intellect toward those superstitious beliefs 
which the emotional life is constantly suggesting. But it is more 
than likely that this confession was made at a time when the 
emotions were undisturbed by fear of ghosts. Had it been other- 
wise, the compelling presence of the fear would have so dominated 
the intellectual life as to beget at least a suspicion of doubt as to 
their unreality. And after all, is it not true that that unbelief, 
which will not remain unshaken when put to the test, must be 
classified as partial belief? Men’s eyes are too strong and too 
dominating in the daytime to see ghosts. The conditions are 
different at night. And this suggests other situations which tend 
to induce fluctuations in belief. Under the influence of certain 
peculiarities of physical organization, the reflex life may become 
so strong as to set up an almost insurmountable barrier to ra- 
tional behavior. When the nervous system of an individual is 
highly wrought and unstable, the reflexes induced by such stimuli 
as we are considering often become so exaggerated and the accom- 
panying emotions so disturbing that the rational processes are 
either not able to function at all, or else so incompletely as to 
offer no sufficient hindrance to superstitious conclusions. Even 
when an otherwise dominating intellectual control has been estab- 
lished, a case of illness, a fit of fatigue, or the weakness resulting 
from the lack of nourishment may render such control impossible, 
or at least highly improbable. 

Belief in superstition is not often engendered by intellectual 
processes, but for the most part in spite of them. More than 95 
per cent, of all the specimens given appeal directly to the emo- 
tions; or, speaking more exactly, are emotional interpretations of 
the common happenings and events of every-day life. The 4 4 will 
to believe” and the reason for believing are both impotent when 
opposed by a well developed eager feeling to believe. 

The sooner our educational philosophy recognizes this domi- 


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Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


151 


nating* power of the emotions, the more readily will our educa- 
tional practice adjust itself to its most difficult task, the judicious 
regulation of the emotions and their proper adjustment to the 
cosmos of truth as we know it today. Our country is at the 
present time in the midst of a remarkable period of emotionalism. 
It seems that a great body of our intelligent people are willing 
and indeed anxious to find rest in a belief supported mainly by 
emotional stirrings. The spiritualistic movement rampant two or 
three decades ago seems to be waning ; but many other cults, more 
or less related, have arisen to take its place. The most unintel- 
ligible doctrine which can be devised will gather to itself loyal 
supporters provided only that it be proclaimed with glowing 
enthusiasm and entangled with a mystic and vague spiritualism. 

The inherent weaknesses of humanity, our unhindered free- 
dom of belief, and a little education have combined to produce a 
goodly number of people who are extremely liable to be fascin- 
ated by a fanatical faith, and to wholly neglect the dictates of 
established truth in coming to conclusions. The highest freedom 
is endangered by those who cannot see and will not see that fact 
and reason are righteous, and benign tyrants before whom all 
who believe in universal freedom must bow. True it is that 
despite all the persistent efforts of man to know what truth is, he 
cannot know any one thing in all its relations. Yet he does know 
that fire burns, even though he cannot fully explain why. He 
knows that sin destroys the beauty of life, even though he may 
not be able to give an all inclusive definition of sin. He knows 
that a faith founded and nourished on false doctrines inevitably 
enfeebles the soul and seriously hinders it in its upward progress. 

We are sorely in need of teachers, preachers, and apostles 
who earnestly desire to teach the people to recognize truth, to love 
it more than opinion, and to submit to its guidance rather than 
to the mere urgings of their emotional promptings. The accom- 
plishment of this ideal is one of the largest problems in connection 
with social amelioration and social control. 

Coming now to the second point which was stated above, we 
reiterate that it is an hygienic necessity to come to conclusions. 
A close and compelling relationship between perception and 
action is a necessary condition for the existence of human life 


152 University of California Publications in Education . [Vol. 5 


as we know it. Perception and thought have no significance at 
all unless they directly or indirectly lead to action and guide in 
its control. Mind and body must be related, else there is no 
need for either. Any disturbance of this relationship must issue 
in harm to the organism as a whole. When, therefore, the mind 
is presented with any sort of data, there is an hygienic demand, 
on the part of the organism, that these same facts issue in some 
conclusion, the necessary condition for rational behavior. This 
does not imply that all rational behavior is good behavior, or that 
all conclusions issue in immediate action. Neither does it assert 
that every conclusion must be followed by its suggested activity. 
It does assert that there is no normal mental equilibrium when 
the active conscious life does not come to rest in some sort of a 
clenoument regarding the presentations appealing to it. .Thought 
always implies an attempt to reach some conclusion, some situa- 
tion preparatory to action. When the presentations are hope- 
lessly complex, the conclusions reached may be negative, or so 
partial that no vital connection between them and rational be- 
havior can be seen. Or, what amounts to the same thing, when 
the mind of the receiver is unable by lack of knowledge and 
training to organize and relate his experiences, his conclusions 
may be extremely indefinite, or wholly unrelated to the data 
which he attempts to explain. It is under such conditions that 
emotional predispositions dominate and the mind finds its relief 
in superstitious conclusions which have been passed down to it by 
tradition, for this is the line of least resistance. In the language 
of venerable doggerel, 

11 To follow foolish precedent, and wink 

With both our eyes, is easier than to think . 11 

By a comparison of the lists gathered in California and those 
brought together in foreign lands, it will be seen that the former 
are not new, but have come to us out of the past. They have been 
modified in certain regards it may be, yet they are essentially the 
same conclusions which were accepted by a common ancestry. 
This fact may tend to perturb our present faith in the value of 
what we are wont to call education, but clearer views of truth are 
always disturbing. 


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Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


153 


To briefly summarize this chapter, we may say that : 

1. Great numbers of the superstitions held in the minds of 
the young’ people of the class described are believed in by them. 
Modern belief is not far from ancient faith. 

2. Superstitious dread and emotional predisposition even 
with educated people are yet very strong factors in determining 
matters of belief. It is largely true as Sir William Hamilton 
says, in his Lectures on Logic (XXVII) : “ Knowledge and 
belief differ not only in degree but in kind. Knowledge is a 
certainty founded upon insight ; belief is a certainty founded 
upon feeling.” 

3. It is an hygienic necessity for the human mind to take 
refuge in conclusions. It canont preserve its own health unless 
relieved of the fatiguing strain of indecision, nor can it guide in 
the affairs of active life without generalizing upon its presenta- 
tions. It is easy to believe when faith gives us rest. 


154 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


CHAPTER V. 


USES OF SUPERSTITIONS. 


For fear lest some one will mistake the content of the above 
heading, I hasten to say there is no desire or intention to try to 
make out that we ought to maintain some of our superstitions 
because they have served certain uses. That is not the purpose 
of this section. But it would be unfair to leave the impression 
that they have been wholly useless in practical affairs, as well as 
hindrances to the development of normal mental life. To be sure, 
there is no doubting the fact that far better means might have 
been chosen with which to accomplish the same purposes; but it 
still remains true that they have been put to use. To make a 
brief statement of the most important of these uses is the purpose 
of this chapter. 

1. They have been used to frighten people into behaving 
according to the social and ethical ideals dominant. This is 
especially true in the case of children. A child is told that if he 
kills a toad, it will cause the cows to give bloody milk ; or if he 
whirls a chair around on one leg, he will have a whipping before 
night ; or if he whistles while at the dinner table, it will bring 
him sorrow ; or if he takes more food while he still has some of 
the same kind on his plate, he will some day lack for that food. 
Scores of others could be cited, all tabooing under penalty certain 
kinds of behavior. But the examples given will serve to make 
the point clear. All will agree, I think, that such methods of 
securing obedience in children, and even in those grown older, 
are in the long run harmful ; but no one who knows child life can 
doubt their temporary effectiveness. Perhaps all who read these 
lines have long ago concluded that it is wrong to attempt to estab- 
lish ethical ideals by means of false doctrine. Yet we should 
remember that to a large extent this is just the method through 
which our present status has been reached. 

2. They have been used as pedagogical devices to train people 
into habits of carefulness and economy. "If you spill salt, it 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


155 


will bring bad luck.” Hence be careful of the salt. “If when 
starting on a journey you forget something and are obliged to 
return for it, it forebodes danger.” Therefore be sure you are 
ready before you start. “If you break a mirror, you will have 
seven years of bad luck.” Handle mirrors carefully. 

3. They have likewise played a part in teaching people, by 
means of the various forms of taboo which they introduce, to be 
careful of their health. According to Lady Wilde, a story is 
current among the Irish “that one night an old woman was sit- 
ting up very late spinning, when a knocking came to the door. 
‘Who is there V she asked. No answer; but still the knocking 
went on. ‘Who is there V she asked a second time. No answer; 
and the knocking continued. ‘ Who is there ? 1 she asked the third 
time in a very angry passion. Then came a small voice: ‘Ah, 

Judy, agrah, let me in, for I am cold and hungry; open the door, 
Judy, agrah, and let me sit by the fire, for the night is cold out 
here. Judy, agrah, let me in, let me in ! ’ The heart of Judy was 
touched, for she thought it was some small child that had lost its 
way, and she rose up from her spinning, and went and opened 
the door — when in walked a large black cat with a white breast, 
and two white kittens after her. They all made over to the fire 
and began to warm and dry themselves, purring all the time 
very loudly; but Judy never said a word, only went on spinning. 
Then the black cat spoke at last: ‘Judy, agrah, don't stay up so 
late again, for the fairies want to hold a council here tonight, and 
to have some supper, but you have prevented them ; so they were 
very angry and determined to kill you, and only for myself and 
two daughters here you would be dead by this time. So take my 
advice, don't interfere with the fairy hours again, for the night 
is theirs, and they hate to look on the face of a mortal when thev 
are out for pleasure or business. So I ran on to tell you, and 
now give me a drink of milk.’ And after the milk was finished, 
the cat stood up and called her daughters to come away. ‘Good- 
night, Judy, agrah,’ she said. ‘You have been very civil to me, 
and I'll not forget it to you. Good-night, good-night!” With 
that the black cat and the two kittens whisked up the chimney ; 
but Judy, looking down, saw something glittering on the hearth,, 
and taking it up, she found it was a piece of silver, more than she 


156 University of California Publications in Education. t Vo1 * 5 


could make in a month by her spinning, and she was glad in her 
heart and never again sat up so late to interfere with the fairy 
hours, but the black cat and her daughters came no more again 
to the house. ’ 

4. Many superstitions have been used as curative agents. 
For example: “A buckeye carried in the pocket will cure rheu- 
matism/’ “It will cure the headache to wear in your hat the 
rattles from a rattle-snake.” “You can charm off your warts by 
rubbing them with a bit of stolen bacon, and then burying the 
bacon. When the bacon has decayed your warts will be gone.” 
The assertion that superstitions have been used to effect cures is 
not made in the spirit of jest. There is not a single element of 
therapeutic strength in so-called “Christian Science” which may 
not be found under the proper conditions in superstitions. It 
is no new doctrine to assert that the mind may exert a powerful 
influence on the vital processes of the body, thereby affecting the 
health of the same. This fact has been known since the time 
when man first began to observe himself. If a man can believe 
fully in the efficacy of the rattle-snake cure, and can come to 
expect a cessation of headache when he hears the rattles in his 
hat, he will undoubtedly get the same effect as he would if he 
had brought himself to the same state of expectant belief by 
religiously asserting that there is no such thing as headache. 

Indeed, for the more primitive mind the rattle-snake plan is 
to be preferred. It is more objective and external, and hence 
more easily applied. Besides, by the use of this method, people 
do not set about to cure what they have alreadv declared has no 
existence at all. Or, if a man has warts and desires to be rid of 
them, he boldly says so, and selects his special brand of in- 
cantation and believes accordingly. He at least is honest and 
consistent in his attitude. 

It will be interesting to recall in this connection Lord Bacon’s 

account of how he was relieved of these unsightly malformations. 

He savs : 

« / 

“I had from my childhood a wart upon one of my fingers. 
Afterwards, when I was about sixteen years old. being then at 
Paris, there grew upon both my hands a number of warts, at the 

4 See Ancient Legends of Ireland, by Lady Wilde, Yol. I, p. 17 f. 


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Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


157 


least a hundred in a month’s space. The English ambassador’s 
lady, who was a woman far from superstition” (a statement 
which must be taken cum grano), “told me one day she would 
help me away with my warts : whereupon she got a piece of lard 
with the skin on, and rubbed the warts all over with the fat side, 
and amongst the rest that wart which I had from my childhood ; 
then she nailed the piece of lard, with the fat towards the sun, 
upon a post of her chamber window, which was to the south. 
The success was that within five weeks’ space all the warts were 
quite away, and that wart which I had so long* endured as com- 
pany. But at the rest I did little marvel, because they came in 
a short time, and might go away in a short time again ; but the 
going away of that which had stayed so long doth yet stick with 
me.” — Francis Bacon. (Quoted from Lit. Living Age, Y. 142, 
p. 555.) 

5. They have been used as means of relieving the mind from 
the strain of indecision. 5 It affords great mental relief to settle 
upon a conclusion and thereby get rid of the tension and fatigue 
incident to thinking. When therefore ready-made conclusions 
and interpretations are at hand, and especially those which carry 
with them the convincing element of superstition, only the most 
vigorous and original minds are able to pass them by and strive 
to reach a more satisfying and rational point of view. The line 
of least effort is chosen by the great majority, and a community 
of belief and interpretation thereby established and maintained. 
This natural eagerness to accept the belief passed down to us is 
a source of safety as well as of danger. It makes possible an 
agreement between peoples, but is dangerous in that it tends to 
issue in arrested mental development. And here we have the two 
poles of any rational educational requirement : respect for tradi- 
tion and personal initiative. No nation or tribe neglecting either 
requirement can expect to hold together and make any progress. 

It would be an utter impossibility to organize a working na- 
tion, or even a clan, out of that class of our fellows to whom we 
owe so much, the scientists; because they are in the main dead 
set against mere traditional faith, and their personal initiative is 
so overgrown that united action would be impossible. On the 


5 See the discussion in the jjrevious chapters. 


158 U niversity of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


other hand, civilization would at once become stagnant if it were 
given into the keeping of those who are wholly satisfied by the 
doctrines of the past ; or even those whose chief interests and 
knowledge have to do with the products of an ancient world. 
The safe and rational progress of any civilization is dependent 
upon both conservatism and vigorous initiative. The stability 
and unity of a state or society depend upon broad sympathy and 
a community of interests. Narrow specialization is non-social 
and positively disintegrating in its tendency, for it leads the 
individual away from doctrines held by the many. 

Throughout the ages all sorts of superstitions have been cur- 
rent, and they have played no small part in social unification, for 
they have served to create and continue a common faith and a 
saving though an irrational belief. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education 


159 


CHAPTER VI. 

LUCK. 

To some minds it will seem utterly useless and a mere waste 
of time to undertake any serious study of luck. For it will be 
asked, “Why attempt any scientific investigation of a thing which 
one knows beforehand will turn out to be but a mere figment of 
the imagination We answer there are many reasons for mak- 
ing such a study, even if this dogmatic criticism proves to be 
entirely true. 

In the first place, the notion of luck deserves careful investi- 
gation, because men have believed in it and continue so to believe. 
And what many people have believed in, and have lived by 
through all ages, is thereby worthy of serious and respectful 
consideration. Belief in luck is thoroughly and so far as we 
know exclusively a human thing, and as such is ready to render 
to us its special hints on human nature, the better understanding 
of which is a necessary condition for higher and truer service to 
mankind. 

In the second place, it is unsafe and unscientific to brand, 
ex cathedra, as wholly untrue and worthless those things which 
have taken such a deep and lasting hold on human nature. There 
is little difference in the long run between the mind of the man 
who believes in luck and the mind of the one who dogmatically 
and arbitrarily denounces such belief as false and completely 
unworthy. A scientific mind is not of necessity an unsympa- 
thetic mind as certain tabulators of partial facts would have us 
believe. He who works at these hidden things of human nature 
must be both respectful and honest if he hopes to get near the 
truth. But if he allows his sympathies to warp or distort the 
facts with which it is his business to deal, he thereby forfeits his 
right to speak authoritatively. But, of all the things which are 
reputed herein to bring good luck, or bad, how many, barring for 
the present the element of suggestion, can by any rational method 
of reasoning be accepted as natural causes in bringing luck? In 


160 University of California Publications in Education 


rvoi. 5 


other words, do these things which are said to bring luck actually 
bring it? Before this question can be answered with any degree 
of scientific exactness, it is necessary to make clear what we mean 
here by natural causes, and by luck, and especially the former. 
We shall not attempt any philosophic discussion of causation, for 
it would lead us too far from the main purpose of this study. 
Suffice it to say that by “natural causes” we mean those know- 
able forces or conditions which when brought into given relations 
are invariably followed by definite and calculable results. It will 
be readily observed that this is a partial and incomplete defini- 
tion, as are all of the definitions made by man ; for his definitions 
can neither include more than he knows, nor exclude “that which 
he knows that is not true.” But what we are wont to call causes 
are those forces and conditions, whether expressed by x or a , 
upon which we can rely to bring regular and consistent results. 
As our powers of analysis and judgment are enlarged and puri- 
fied, our definitions of natural causes must continually adjust 
themselves. But it would be a fatal mistake to stop our attempts 
at defining because we are unable to give complete and perfect 
definitions. Error diminishes in proportion as we honestly strive 
to gain the truth. Though the definition given is to some degree 
an imperfect and inadequate standard, we shall apply it to our 
data, and state the results of our judgments in numerical terms. 

When we attempt to define luck , we find it a very variable 
term. For our present use, however, it may be defined as that 
supposed help or hindrance which overtakes an individual when 
subject to certain unusual or superstitious conditions. This is its 
general meaning. In another place will be found a more extended 
analysis of the meaning of the term as used in the various classes 
of superstitions here recorded. 

When we apply our definition of natural causes, we find that 
out of 2,120 specimens of luck-superstitions, comprised in 384 
different varieties, only thirty-five specimens, included in five 
varieties, could be classified as belonging in the realm of the 
demonstrable. Of course it would be very foolish of any one to 
conclude that because certain things have not been demonstrated 
as true, that they are false, or because they have not been proved 
false, that they are true. But no rational and unprejudiced mind 


1907] Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 161 

can find fault with this general conclusion. In fact it seems as 
if one's judgment ’would be brought into fatal disrepute, to allow 
a single example to be so classified, for one knows that the mean- 
ing put into them is in general more superstitious than the mere 
words indicate. Even in cases where natural loss would follow 
an act, or any combination of events, the term “bad luck" is not 
used synonymously with loss but some occult additional punish- 
ment or providence is included. For example, “It is bad luck 
to lose a glove. ? ’ Now no one would deny that it is bad luck to 
lose a glove, when bad luck and loss are synonymous terms. But 
bad luck here means more. It portends some external unknown 
and additional force working against the loser. The danger 
which appears in the mind of the one who believes in this is not 
the loss of the glove, but some f uture harm or trouble wdiich the 
loser must suffer. 

In order to make this point more explicit, the five examples 
referred to are here given : 

1. It will bring good luck to find a penny. 

2. To find a new piece of money early in the morning will 
bring good luck. 

3. If you break a mirror, you will have bad luck. 

4. It is bad luck to break, wear out, or lose a wedding ring. 

5. It is bad luck to lose a glove. 

It seems reasonable to expect that the finding of money would 
always directly or indirectly bring help to the finder, or that the 
breaking of a mirror would ever impose some hardship or hin- 
drance upon the one who breaks it, and hence in this sense it 
would be entirely justifiable to say that these are not superstitions 
but statements of actual regular occurrences. But in reality, as 
we have said, this is not the meaning put into these superstitions 
by those who hold them in mind. In each case luck is thought of 
as some good or bad influence wrought by an unknown agent 
which is independent of the money or the finder, the mirror, or 
the breaking. He who holds to the superstition “if one breaks a 
mirror, he will have bad luck,” rarely, if ever, counts the loss of 
the mirror, or the direct inconvenience which might be caused 
by its loss, as any part of the bad luck. It is not the loss of the 
mirror, but some indefinite, impending doom he thinks of as the 
bad luck. 


162 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


In the light of the fact, therefore, that in all these hundreds 
and thousands of specimens, not a single one can be conscien- 
tiously classified as a statement of natural cause and effect, we 
can at once come to the following conclusion : Barring sugges- 

tion, if there be any such thing as luck, it cannot be accounted 
for on the basis of ordinary natural cause and effect, and cannot 
be produced experimentally. The truth of the last statement is 
clearly shown when it is seen that all who believe in luck main- 
tain either by direct statement or definite implication that the 
conditions which conspire to bring it must merely happen. Any 
conscious planning is always sufficient ground for saying, “It 
won 't work that way. 

But when we turn to a consideration of the power of sugges- 
tion, we see readily that there is one point of view from which 
luck may be viewed as the natural result of one's reactions toward 
those conditions and forces which are said to produce it. Other 
things equal, that individual whose strivings for worthy things 
develop from the direct urgings of his belief in good luck will 
have better luck, that is, have more success than he who is ever 
in doubt and fearful of the outcome. Positive faith begets a 
direct and unhindered activity never present when the mind is 
in doubt. And, as we have shown in the chapter on the Uses of 
Superstition, men have attempted to prepare themselves to battle 
against the immediate difficulties that surround them by believ- 
ing in good luck. They have set up, to be sure, an imperfect 
standard, but they have survived under the general law of be- 
havior, viz., that those who undertake to do, even though under 
the guidance of partial knowledge, are safer than those whose 
consciousness of imperfection is so strong as to inhibit all action. 

On the other hand, those who believe themselves unlucky 
forfeit a vital part of their possible success. The lack of faith 
in one's inherent, unproved capacity often serves as an effectual 
barrier to progress. Those who are expecting some good in life, 
and are diligently striving under the inspiration of this senti- 
ment, are more likely to find it than those who are always waiting 
or working in fear. 

The strength of the suggestive power of any superstition 
depends very largely on the tendency and condition of the mind 


I 


190 ~1 Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 163 


of the individual to whose attention it is brought. A given 
superstition may stir one mind to its very depths, while it may 
produce very little effect upon another. Indeed, the suggestive 
force of any superstition varies in proportion to the emotional 
condition of the mind holding it. When sombre emotions occupy 
the field of consciousness, then it is that the gruesome and occult 
exert their greatest suggestive power. A mother watching by a 
sick child in the darkness of the night listens with fearful awe 
to the piteous howling of a dog beneath her window. At another 
time and under different conditions the wail of the dog would be 
scarcely noticed by her. Haunted houses can be occupied com- 
fortably in the daytime, when the emotional life is hidden under 
the thin covering of intellectual interests. But when the darkness 
comes and shuts us away from the tangible things of life, then 
it is that all the unconscious and irrational fears of the past 
break through and rule us. The croak of some night bird, or 
even the rustle of the wind through the barren branches of the 
trees awakens within us a feeling of dread out of all proportion 
to the stimulus. The belated boy as he hurriedly stumbles home- 
ward through the dark forest must whistle in order to calm his 
ethnic soul, else it seems it would burst with dread. It matters 
little if he knows every rock and tree, every log or brush heap, 
he cannot persuade himself into calmness. Under these condi- 
tions he cannot live rationally. He is under the domination of 
suggestion and superstitious dread. He then lives in a sort of 
paleopsychic past where the whole of Nature was strangely sen- 
tient and direful. 


It is very instructive, and at the same time not a little disturb- 
ing, to note one's attitude toward patent medicine advertisements 
when one is suffering with dyspepsia, or other illness entailing 
similar mental distresses. It is so hard to persuade one s self 
that all this which “describes his case so completely' is not just 
the thing to save and cure him. How different is his attitude 
toward these miserable lies when he is strong and vigorous ! He 
then thinks, and his fears lose some of their controlling power. 

Do people believe in luck? We can best answer this question 
by appealing directly to the statements of those from whom the 
material was gathered. And I wish to repeat here what was said 


164 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


in the introduction ; the material is uniform, and was collected 
in such a manner as to be worthy of full credence. The expres- 
sions of belief, or non-belief are honest expressions and can be 
accepted as very close approximations to the truth. There were 
2,120 answers given relating to belief or non-belief in luck. Of 
these, 1,143 expressed non-belief, 713 partial belief, 264 full be- 
lief. Combining the cases of belief — for, as we have shown 
elsewhere, partial belief is a belief — we have 977 expressions of 
belief in comparison with 1,143 of non-belief. That is to say, 
53.4 per cent, of the judgments express no belief in luck, while 
46.6 per cent, express belief. It must be held in mind, however, 
that these figures do not refer to the people returning answers, 
but to the number of judgments they made. For this reason it 
might be argued that these figures fail to show how far we may 
rely on people of this class to believe or disbelieve in luck. In 
reply, it should be said you cannot classify people into two classes, 
those who believe in luck and those who do not, for almost everv 
person both believes and disbelieves. He believes luck will come 
under certain conditions, but will not under others. If we were 
to count each person who expresses a belief in a single luck 
superstition as a believer in luck, though he expressed non-belief 
in many, we should find the figures quite startling, but an exag- 
geration of the true mental condition of the people. For example, 
an individual who returned ten different superstitions (and this 
is not far from the average) may have expressed belief in one 
and non-belief in all the others. It would be evidently unfair, 
on the basis of belief in luck, to classify him with another, who 
believed in nine and was in doubt about the tenth. And yet 
each would believe. The truer method, as it seems to me, is to 
seek to find what per cent, of the whole number of judgments, 
made on those superstitions which each individual had in his own 
mind, will fall on the side of belief or unbelief. It is not a case 
where the investigator furnishes a set list of superstitions and 
asks for an expression of belief upon each one from each subject. 
Such a method would render the returns very easy to handle, but 
in all probability the figures would be expressive of no vital truth 
when wrought into tables. What we are seeking to find out is 
how much of belief in luck can be counted on as daily existing in 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


165 


the minds of those who furnished the data. We wish to know the 
attitude of individuals of this class toward their own personal 
superstitious holdings, and at the same time express this, if it be 
possible in some general form. 

It may be urged that this method is faulty, for it could be 
asked, “Is it not possible that a comparatively few individuals 
did most of the believing, while the others expressed occasional 
belief only?” This objection would be fatal were it not for the 
fact that the material and method of gathering it assure us this 
is not the case. 

1. The material was gathered, as has been stated, from a 
select and, as far as it is possible, from a uniform source. That 
is to say, the judgments made by such a trustworthy and select 
class of individuals are directly comparable. 

2. When a study of the figures is made, it is seen that out of 
384 different varieties of luck superstitions, there are but 145 
different ones in which no one expressed a belief, and of these 
122 appear but once, 14 twice, 8 three times, and 1 five times. 
This leaves 239 different varieties in which belief was stated. 
Hence belief in luck is not confined to a few well known super- 
stitions, but is found to cover a large majority of all varieties 
collected. This alone renders the possibility that the belief 
returns were from a minority of the individuals very slight. 
Further, if we take the twenty-five varieties for each of which 
twenty or more duplicates were given, we shall see the same gen- 
eral result. For the percentage of belief in these is not materially 
different from that in the whole number given. There were for 
these twenty-five varieties altogether 1,280 judgments made ; 52.7 
per cent, of them affirmed no belief in luck, while 47.3 per cent, 
expressed belief. If we sample these figures still further and 
take the two varieties of superstitions, each of which occurred in 
the returns more than one hundred times, we find 48.8 per cent, 
of these expressed no belief, while 51.2 per cent, affirmed belief. 
This slight variation from the other per cents, in all probability 
means nothing, and would disappear were there a greater number 
of varieties to combine. 

The probability, then, that the material set forth is uniform, 
and that we have a right to a direct comparison of the results, is 
very great. We therefore reach the following conclusions: 


166 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


1. Belief in some form of luck is very general among the 
people represented by this class. 

2. Belief in luck, as the term is commonly used, is a belief 
in the existence of some unknown power arbitrarily exerting 
itself to bring upon men good or evil. 

In order to render these conclusions more suggestive, it is only 
necessary to recall that the people here represented were specially 
selected for teachers by reason of scholarship, character, and 
bodily vigor. They have had what passed for good training and 
without doubt were above the average in culture and refinement. 
That they are yet in the midst of superstitious faith, however, 
cannot for a moment be doubted. 

The word luck has many shades of meaning and one cannot 
hope to define it completely. It is one of those indefinite and 
accommodating terms which rests easily in any mind. But, from 
a study of all the superstitions here recorded referring to luck, 
the following definitions have been analyzed out and are offered 
as some contribution to an understanding of the use of the term. 

1. Luck is that supposed help or hindrance which overtakes 
an individual when subject to certain unusual or superstitious 
conditions. This is its most general meaning, and is illustrated 
by almost every specimen catalogued. 

2. Luck is a word that is used to name those influences for 
good or bad, which proceed from some indefinite source, and come 
upon the individual when he performs or does not perform 
certain stated acts. Examples : 

If you will turn over a horseshoe, it will produce good luck. 

It will bring bad luck to turn back after having started on a 


journey. 


3. Luck is the aid or distress which comes to a person when 
brought into rapport with some superhuman or supernatural 
power, exhibited through certain ordinary happenings over which 
he lias no control. Examples: 

If you accidentally find a button, you will have good luck as 
many days as there are holes in the button. 


If it rains on your wedding day, 


it will bring vou very bad 

C? c/ 


luck. 

4. It is the result of that good or bad influence which people, 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


167 


animals, numbers, or inanimate things exercise over man when he 
is unwittingly brought within the sphere of their occult power. 
Examples : 

If you accidentally touch the hump of a deformed person, you 
will have good luck. 

It is bad luck to meet a cross-eyed person. 

If you meet a dog coming toward you, you will have good luck. 

It is good luck to be connected in any way with the number 
seven. 

Thirteen is a very unlucky number. 

If you find a hairpin, it will bring you good luck. 

Peacock feathers kept in the house will produce ill-luck. 

5. Good luck is that providential help which comes to speci- 
ally favored individuals. Bad luck is the hurtful effect of the 
arbitrary disfavor of the gods, and is accepted as a necessary part 
of the sorrows of life. Examples : 

Some men are born lucky, and whatever they do will turn 
out well. 

You cannot succeed when luck is against you. 

6. Good luck is a reward for commendable conduct; while 
bad luck comes as a punishment for some improper behavior. 
Examples : 

See a pin and pick it up, 

All the day yon ’ll have good luck. 

If you whirl a chair around on one leg, it will bring bad luck. 

(This definition will not hold good in all cases. Examples are 
found where apparently commendable conduct brings bad luck, 
and where improper behavior is followed by good luck. These are 
exceptional, however, and are probably due to slips of memory.) 

But what are the lessons or practical suggestions of this study 
of luck? 

1. Belief in the possibility of good luck prevents many 
people from a full reliance on a rational self-helpfulness. It 
furnishes them an excuse for insufficient preparation to do the 
reasonable and necessary work of life, and tempts them to idle, 
Micawber-like, until the best opportunities are gone. Belief in 
the possibility of bad luck weakens that faith in one’s inherent 
ability and worth, which is the essential element in every sue- 


168 University of California Publications in Education . [Vol. 


5 


cessful worker. He who feels the gods are against him, no matter 
what he does, will fail in every attempt he makes. A large part 
of the misery and pauperism of the world would cease if men 
could thoroughly learn that all that is worth having must be paid 
for, and paid for by the one who receives it. 

2. Belief in luck incites men to squander their money in 
games of chance where the odds are strongly against them. It 

C? Cl? t/ C_? 

would be easy to get rid of lotteries and slot-machines if men had 
no excitement in giving rein to the superstitious longings of their 
natures. But lotteries and slot-machines, or some substitute for 
them, will exist as long as it is more satisfying to men to believe 
in luck than it is to rely on mathematical calculations. The 
nervous reaction which comes to all of us when this mental rem- 
nant is allowed to bestir itself is one of peculiar interest. Why 
should a slot-machine, which advertises on its very face that in 
the long run it will give four dollars for five, have such a fascin- 
ation about it"? The question is not a difficult one to answer. 
It is pleasant, it is exciting at times to throw our reason to the 
wind and trust to luck. It is exercising a dormant but powerful 
instinctive impulse, and the emotional reaction arising smacks so 
much of primal things that it thrills the whole organism. In 
parts of Europe this human weakness is made to serve what many 
would call a good purpose. If a church is to be erected or re- 
lieved of debt, the easiest method is to institute a lottery. For 
many persons, who would give no heed to a direct call for aid, 
will “try their luck” and liberally contribute by purchasing 

tickets. A lottery is sure to be a financial success if those who 

•/ 

advertise it know enough of human nature to make the proper 
appeals. If the luck idea and the possible winnings can be 
brought to the front in some suggestive way, the rest is easily 
done. While making this study, opportunity came to see some 
good examples of such advertising, and I will risk here a short 
description of one. In a window of a lottery establishment in 
Berlin not two blocks distant from the university there was 
placed a picture portraying the interior of an attic room. About 
a table were gathered the mother and father and a young woman 
of the now-or-never marriageable age. The appearance of the 
room and the people did not portray abject poverty ; but some- 


1907] 


D resslar. — Super stiti o n and Ed uca t ion . 


169 


how there came the suggestion that no worthy dowry could have 
been saved up for the comely maiden. But what matter: there 
was a fourth figure in the group. It was that of a business-like 
man who had come to settle a lottery claim. He carried a large 
money-bag from which he had counted long rows of bank-notes 
and golden coins. The mother was almost hysterical with joy ; 
the father was gladdened beyond the possibility of worry; and 
the young maiden — well, she was already dreaming of the future. 
Luck had come at last. In a neighboring window, a flaring poster 
told those who were seeking for this luck how they might have it. 
But to one who looked carefully and counted the cost it said we 
will give you 20 for 51. 

There are thousands of intelligent people who would not think 
of beginning a serious piece of work on a Friday, even if all the 
other conditions seemed most propitious and common reason 
urged it. They can give no reason for such irrational conduct, 
but when urged to explain, they openly declare that they are 
afraid to do so, for they feel as if something would certainly 
happen to prevent its successful completion. They may even 
say they do not believe in luck, but they much prefer to take no 
chances. 

In the ancient and historic little town of Worksop, Notting- 
hamshire, England, much discussion and no little feeling was 
stirred up a few years ago as the result of the farmers’ effort 
to do away with the giving of “luck money." It has been the 
custom there for many years that when a farmer sells a beast to 
the butcher, or a horse to a buyer, he is expected by the purchaser 
to return some part of the purchase money “for luck" ; a shilling 
for an ox, tuppence for a sheep, and a half-a-crown for a horse. 
During a recent visit there, I took occasion to talk with many 
people about it. No one seemed to know anything definite about 
the origin of the custom, but all discussed the pros and cons of 
it in the most earnest and matter-of-fact fashion. Some said the 
continuance of the village market depended on the continuance 
of the giving of luck money; others seemed to think it “a bit 
foolish. ’ ’ But so far as I could make out, it is customary in most 
all the village markets of that part of England, and before it can 
be done awav with some concerted action will be necessary. In 


170 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


most of the public discussions about it, the idea of luck is kept 
in the back-ground, and the money is taken as a sort of rebate, 
or perhaps in the nature of a tip. But it was plainly evident 
that such an unbusiness-like and cumbersome method of trading 
is maintained because of a deep-seated belief or faith in some 
hidden value of luck money. Indeed, some traders openly de- 
clared they felt safer with their bargains when receiving luck 
money. One butcher told me that he felt surer after getting his 
luck money that he would get his ox safely home, and therefore 
would insist on a continuance of the giving of luck money for 
this reason. Plainly the custom is rooted in the subsoil of 
superstition, else common reason and convenience would quickly 
prevail to stop it. 

At Monte Carlo the gamblers will bet on a number because it 
happened that the check given for hat or coat before entering the 
gaming-room bears this number, or that they saw it on a sign- 
board as they came to the casino, or that, as they were watching 
the table, a fly alighted on a square bearing this number. Indeed, 
they are filled with the idea that if “accidentally” a number can 
be suggested to them, it will give them an advantage in the win- 
nings despite the fact that the table is constantly proclaiming to 
all who will see and understand that it is constructed so as to 
give 35 for 37. Betting on numbers, thus suggested, is especially 
likely to happen if these numbers should have any implied or 
habitual superstitious suggestion. As foolish as it may seem to 
be led by a fly, people who believe in luck are willing to be 
so guided. It happened recently, while I was in the immediate 
neighborhood of Monte Carlo, that quite a sensation among the 
rouletters at this most beautifully hideous place was caused by 
the outcome of a rush to bet heavily on the number 13, merely 
because a fly — a common house-fly, — after buzzing about over the 
table, settled down on this number and remained there for some 
time. For by chance 13 was the winning number, and the 
“bank” was called on to distribute very largely of its ill-gotten 
gain. In the minds of such people, one coincidence bringing 
fulfillment to superstitious expectations is sufficient to warrant 
belief. 

During a study of human nature as exhibited here I saw 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


171 


women thumbing their coins and repeating the while some charm 
preparatory to betting on a number or color. I saw men fixing 
up elaborate systems of lucky numbers preparatory to placing 
their money. All this was done in the most matter-of-fact and 
earnest fashion. They made no attempt to hide their faith in 
such superstitious usages. 

In the shop windows at Monte Carlo and the neighboring 
villages, many kinds of so-called “lucky pigs” and four-leaf 
clovers are displayed for sale. All these are called on to aid in 
betting against a certain probability in favor of the 4 4 bank. ’ ’ 

A good story is told of how far this seeking for occult or 
accidental guidance in such gaming may go. It chanced one 
Sunday that an habitue of the casino found his way to the Eng- 
lish church in the vicinity, and upon hearing the number of the 
hymn announced was “impressed with the feeling “ that this was 
a “lucky" number to bet on, and immediately left the church for 
the gambling table. He staked heavily on this number and won. 
Following up the suggestion, he went to church the next Sunday 
and remained long enough to get the number of the hymn an- 
nounced, staked on it, and won again. Upon confiding the secret 
of his success to his friends, they, too, went to church. The con- 
tagion spread until the exodus after the hymn became so marked 
that the rector was painfully conscious of it, and, on learning of 
the cause, took occasion to protect himself and the good name of 
his church by announcing from his pulpit that in the future no 
hvmn whose number was less than 37 would be selected. This 
number was designated because on the roulette table the highest 
number is 36. But the strangest and most interesting thing about 
this story is the fact that it is a true storv. I took occasion to 
make careful and extended inquiry concerning the occurrence 
and was assured by many who attended this church that there is 
not a shadow of doubt about its truth. 

When one stops and candidly inquires into such behavior as 
this, he cannot help seeing that back of it and underneath it 
there is a strong feeling of belief that luck is something tremen- 
dously real, and that it is possible to get guidance from a rabbit ’s 
foot or the behavior of a tired fly. It is evident, too, that this 
guidance is expected in the way of some emotional control brought 


172 University of California Publications in Education. (T o1 * 5 

about through the power of these things, so that the individual 

who is about to bet will be impelled to select a certain number or 

combination of chances because he feels strongly that this is to 

be a winner. Psychologically this is a most interesting situation. 

It is a tacit belief in a universal consciousness in which there 

exists no time distinctions between present and future, and that 

those who will may share in such a mental state. 

«/ 

When we see a small boy ‘‘christening' 7 his taw in order to 
insure good luck at marbles, we laugh over it and pass it by as 
child's play. But when we see those who have grown old enough 
to put away childish things, earnestly and seriously trusting to 
the carved image of a pig to suggest a winning play at roulette, 
our cheeks pale, and our dreams of the divinity and rationality 
of man are rudely disturbed. The added eagerness and concen- 
tration which christening the taw may bring render the boy’s 
behavior highly intellectual as compared with that of the adult 
who has absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of the so-called 
game of roulette. Truly “man is fearfully and wonderfully 
made,” or at least he is at the present time strangely conditioned 
in the process of making. 

Closely connected with the idea of luck is the unconscious 
«/ 

attitude of the folk-mind toward the world order. Is there in 
the world more of strife and danger than peace and safety? Are 
we encircled with more antagonisms than encouragements? Must 
we expect during the progress of life more interference from the 
gods than support and good will ? These are the questions which 
have instinctively arisen in the minds of men of all ages, and have 
been answered in a more or less unconscious manner, through 
their doctrines, their beliefs, and their behavior. If we put the 
following questions to our data and attempt therefrom to answer 
them, this general attitude of mind will be emphasized in a very 
decisive way : From the standpoint of superstition, are people 

more fearful than hopeful? Do they give more time to thinking 
of how they may flee from some coming harm than of how they 
may bring to themselves positive good? There are many more 
superstitions referring to the possibility of bad luck than of good 
luck, and it seems quite clear that the people who originated them 
were more dominated by fear of impending harm than by the 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


173 


hope of some good to come. This hints at a truth which seems 
to have been more clearly seen in recent years. The fear instinct 
has been hitherto the dominant one, the ever-present guardian 
of life. This tendency is shown not only in those superstitions 
having to do with luck, but the emphasis of the whole collection 
is strongly toward the pessimistic, or at least toward that which 
is more in line with trouble than with happiness. Within a 
fraction, 60 per cent, of the whole collection refer to some sort of 
impending trouble or sorrow. Of the remaining 40 per cent., 
one-fourth refer directly to good luck, one-fifth to expected 
pleasures of one sort or another, while the remaining have no 
special decisive emotional content. Naturally, then, the folk 
seized upon the fear instinct as the basic principle of their peda- 
gogic method. If you do not do this or that, some calamity will 
come upon you ; some evil spirit will have power over you, or 
some nether torment will get hold of you and keep you in a state 
of infinite fright. We can scarcely over-estimate in the history 
of educational development the compelling force of this desire 
“to flee the wrath to 001110 ." The presentation to the primitive 
mind of some possible bad luck or danger produced more imme- 
diate results in obedience than all the longings which could be 
induced by attempting to fix the mind on the true worth of right 
conduct. And this will continue until the harrowing perils of 
mere existence give place to a safer and calmer life, in which the 
instinct for the True, the Good, and the Beautiful will have a 
chance to develop its latent powers and emerge as the mentor of 
our future strivings. The survival of the fittest is not necessarily 
a survival of the best. This is so only when the conditions put 
a premium on the best. Otherwise the prickly cacti on the 
desert represent the acme of plant life, and the blind fishes in the 
caverns typify the best among fishes. 

Perhaps it is not far from the truth to say that each person 
is possessed with a desire to have tangible evidence of his own 
worth in some form or another. Those who have accumulated 
but little either in substance, ability, or skill often feel as if the 
world, the fates, or some other indefinite giver owes them a living, 
or at least some substantial recognition. Consequently when 
there is a dearth of such results, they readily turn to rely on 


174 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 

luck. When a person has accomplished but little, his hope is the 
more readily fastened on what the “ world owes” him. He who 
has some specific, worthy, and reliable business to absorb his 
attention and time, and through which he can establish his worth, 
has little use for luck. He is both accumulating proof of his 
worth and by employing his intellect toward a definite purpose 
is preventing the superstitious tendencies of his nature from 
functioning. 

The most healthful education is one which begets a desire to 
do worthy things, and at the same time directly equips the hand 
and the brain to actual accomplishment. No man is safe who 
cannot point to some objective results of his own labor. This 
alone can give genuine self-reliance, which is the very antithesis 
of luck. A child brought up to a lazy, purposeless, thoughtless 
life is much inclined to substitute some sort of belief in mirac- 
ulous or superstitious help for the feeling of personal ability and 
the willingness to rely on his own labors for success. 

At first thought, and to the enthusiastic teacher who is so sure 
that his new-found wisdom will revolutionize the desires and 
doings of men, it seems an easy task to teach humanity to give 
up its faith in luck; but after we have seen people applaud learn- 
ing and pay for its dissemination, and then turn to luck for help, 
we begin to realize how large the problems of education really 
are. But there are no short-cuts here, for after all we must do 
about as Emerson suggests. We must largely let man “ learn 
that everything in nature, even motes and feathers, go by law 
and not by luck, and that what he sows he reaps.” 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


175 


CHAPTER VII. 
WISHING. 


“If I wish on a load of hay and do not look at it again, my 
wish will come true. 7 7 This statement, as you see, is a personal 
statement, and was made by a teacher, who declared “full belief” 
in it. It is given here as a type of the wish superstition, and can 
be duplicated many times in the lists given. 

This would become a dreary world indeed if by some all- 
powerful decree we were compelled to cease wishing. It brings 
relief to the over-wrought soul to pour out its longings in definite 
wishes, and it helps to unify the scattered mind and fix it on the 
ideals which seem most essential to immediate happiness. Not a 
day passes in which every rational soul does not formulate and 
express its desires in wishes. Some of them are within the bounds 
of accomplishment, but most of them are wild and utterly beyond 
attainment. Some are unselfish and pure, while others grow out 
of baser thoughts and are secretly guarded from the knowledge 
of even our most intimate associates. By referring to the super- 
stitions recorded bearing on wishing, we find that they all have 
to do with setting forth the form of making wishes and the con- 
ditions under which they “come true. 77 The wishes themselves, 
or, in other words, the things wished for, are not given ; they are 
too personal and must ever be held in secret. 

But why do people wish, and why have they developed a sort 
of wishing ritualism? We shall not be able to answer this ques- 
tion conclusively, for our data are insufficient and somewhat 
irrelevant. But as the result of a careful studv of those forms 


and conditions mentioned certain suggestions have come which 
seem worthy of record. 

1. Most wishes are wholly spontaneous and bubble up before 
one is conscious of what is taking place in the mind. These need 
no ritualism and are subject to none. When they find vocal 
expression they take a form very like that of our secret prayers. 
Many of them, in fact, could be classified as prayers, for in 


176 University of California Publications in Education. IWol. 5 

both form and fervency they lack nothing which prayers possess. 
They are whispered with that instinctive faith which comes to us 
as the result of an inherent predisposition to wishing. The atti- 
tude of the young maiden who, unobserved, sees the new moon 
for the first time and secretly pours out her soul’s desires to it in 
wishes is not essentially different from that of our ancient 
ancestors, who prayed to the Moon God for fair weather and 
protection from the dangers of the night. 

2. The rules and conditions given to guide in successful 
wishing have grown up in connection with those wishes which 
come to be consciously and habitually made, and represent a 
natural method of deepening and fixing a faith through super- 
stitious formalism. The native impulse to wish, or project one’s 
self into ideal conditions, carries with it a desire for the ful- 
fillment of those conditions, and hence readily lends itself to 
superstitious affiliations. It is not too much to say that even 
the higher kinds of faith, to which men have subscribed, bear 
evidence to the influence of their personal desires and wishes. 

Wishing is an expression of a universal longing to connect the 
self with an ideal experience. It is due to the tendency of mind 
to seek enlargement in terms of an experience, which, for the time 
being at least, lies beyond the range of possibility. 

Wishes are then not only “the easy pleasures of the poor,” 
as Douglas Jerrold remarks; they are the instinctive reactions of 
universal dissatisfaction, and reveal, when rightly apprehended, 
a dynamic mental tendency, which, on the whole, makes for right- 
eousness. The wishing-sack of the Basque legends, the wonderful 
lamp of Aladdin, the wishing-cap of Fortunatus, serve to remind 
us of the wide-spread and universal longings of the human spirit 
everywhere expressed in wishes. 

The mental situation, which prompts an attempt to make 
wishes come true by the use of prescribed superstitious formal- 
ism, is not far removed from that kind of worship where the 
individual seeks to placate the gods, or to enlist their favor 
wholly by means of the use of some set of official tricks, or 
external ceremonies. Surely man needs every conceivable oppor- 
tunity to express his instinctive tendency to look up, and to seek 
for that wisdom which enters into life through communion with 


2907 ] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


177 


truth yet invisible ; but be needs also to be taught to worship 
‘ ‘ in spirit and in truth, ’ ’ to seek for help from whence help must 
come, and, in proportion as knowledge is available, to “put away 
childish things. ” 


178 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol.5 


CHAPTER VIII. 


‘ ‘ CHARMS ’ 1 AND “CURES.” 

Medical science has progressed at a truly wonderful rate 
during the past lialf-century. For the closer application of scien- 
tific method to the study of the causes and cure of diseases has 
not only given definite guidance in the treatment of certain ail- 
ments but has likewise set the medical world to thinking in new 
directions. It seems strange, in view of these facts, that during 
the same time, and more especially in the last decades of this 
period, superstitious “healing” has become conspicuously com- 
mon. The word superstitious is used in this connection advisedly. 
In the light of the most elemental notions of surgery and of 
superstition one cannot on any other basis classify the following 
case, which is only a fair and true sample of the thousands which 
might be readily collected. “Frank Knowles Butterworth, the 
master printer of Manchester, who refused to call in a doctor 
when his ten-year-old daughter broke her collar-bone, was yester- 
day sentenced to a month’s imprisonment for causing her unnec- 
essary suffering*. He is a follower of Dr. Dowie, to whom he 
cabled for prayers for the girl’s recovery, and told the court he 
held to the doctrine that all cures are effected by faith and 
prayer. ' 

Were it not irrelevant to our present purpose it would be 
satisfying to commend to the attention of all American justices 
this action of the magistrates of Manchester. 

It was said above that in these modern days superstitious 
treatment of disease has become conspicuously common. Perhaps 
it has always been so ; still there seems now to be a growing bold- 
ness about such practices hitherto unnoticeable. There are no 
available statistics to prove this last statement, and therefore it 
must stand as mere opinion ; but it is quite probable that all who 
have read widely and observed closely on this subject will agree 
with it even if it cannot be thus demonstrated. Moreover, if we 


6 See London Daily Mail, October 2, 1903, column 2, p. 


O 

D. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


179 


turn to our list of superstitions we find indirect evidence is forth- 
coming that the folk mind is, on the whole, more rational, and 
that no such utter folly as absent treatment for broken bones 
is represented. A statistical study of the superstitions reported 
brings to light the fact that of the 111 different kinds having to 
do with the cause, cure, and prevention of diseases, more than 
half of these relate to the removal of warts. If we include in one 
class all those relating to very minor difficulties, such as warts, 
sty on the eye, and nose-bleed, and combine all others into a 
second class, we find nearly 64 per cent, of all the cases reported 
belong to the first class. This suggests that with the folk less 
reliance is placed on superstitious treatment in cases of serious 
afflictions than in cases of milder and insignificant troubles. One 
could believe that this tendency is equally marked among those 
who practice modern ‘ 1 healing, ’ ’ were it not for the fact that the 
published statement of their doctrine and the criminal boldness, 
which they often show in its application, seem to disprove it. 

Another somewhat related question which we might put to 
our statistics is this : Do superstitions refer most frequently to 

prevention, cause, or to cure of diseases ? This can be answered 
by saying they refer to all, but chiefly to cures. Out of a total 
of 151 specimens returned — and this is an unexpectedly small 
number, — 107 refer to cures, 19 to causes, and 25 to prevention 
of diseases. Nothing need be said of these figures save to point 
out the fact that they illustrate the general and necessary be- 
havior of the folk mind and conform to the laws of human 
progress as we know them. An ounce of the power to think in 
terms of prevention is harder to develop than a pound of ability 
to consider a situation after it has arisen. 

If we ask the question as to whether the remedies here sug- 
gested have any real efficiency, we can answer only by saying if 
they do it must come through suggestion. For with the exception 
of two or three cases there seems not to be a single specimen in 
which there is any immediate or sufficient relation of the remedy 
to the disease to effect a cure. If warts can be removed by 
counting them, then it seems certain that the removal is brought 
about through the effect of the mind on the body. If a fever 
can be broken up by inclosing a spider in a nutshell and hanging 


180 University of California Publications in Education. f Vo1 - 5 


it about the neck, the cure must come as the result of faith rather 
than as a direct result of the therapeutic power of the spider. 
If rheumatic aches can be eradicated by carrying* a potato, a nut- 
meg*, or a horse-chestnut in the pocket, ordinary common sense 
refuses to attribute the cure to any direct influence of these 
objects on the amount of uric acid in the blood. If there be any 
relief, it must be indirect and mental. 

It will be noticed by all who read over the examples of super- 
stitions referring* to diseases that they are stated as if the real 
power to cure existed in the charm, or the chestnut, the bone, or 
the black cat’s tail. This gives them an objective power that, as 
it seems to me, the latter-day “faith curists” are missing. For 
my part, it would be much more conducive to faith in an effectual 
cure of rheumatism if with this result in mind on retiring at 
night I inserted the toe of one shoe into the mouth of the other 
one, and then placed them under the bed, than it would be if, 
when racked by the pain of this distressing disease, I struggled 
to convince myself that after all no such disease existed, and that 
there is no such thing as rheumatic twinges. 

Then there is another advantage growing out of this objective 
method used by the folk that should not be overlooked. They 
can apply it more readily when their domestic animals are ailing. 
For example, if there be any merit in such things, it would 
certainly be much easier to adapt some objective superstitious 
remedy to a case of colic than it would be to undertake to per- 
suade a groaning horse that he is entirely mistaken concerning 
his condition, and that after all there is no such thing as a vig- 
orous abdominal ache. Horse sense would likely be too blunt to 
appreciate the force of this argument. 

The “faith-cure” doctrines rampant in America and else- 
where have issued in such multifarious and religious forms in 
recent years that they defv any systematic classification. That 
they all appeal very largely to a lively and potent superstitious 
impulse is attested by both doctrines and devotees. It is not our 
purpose to deny their feelings or beliefs, but simply to assert 
that they have in no careful and scientific way demonstrated the 
truth of their claims. People who are willing to believe in the 
inspiration of a book which “reads as well backwards as for- 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


181 


wards,” and in either direction appeals chiefly to emotional 
women and credulous men, are ipso facto devoid of that just 
balance in life which subordinates fancy to fact. They rarely 
feel the need of demonstration, and when they do, they are 
usually incapable of accepting it ungrudgingly, or of even know- 
ing when it has been given. But in making this comparison it 
would be as unscientific to condemn their doctrines and claims 
as wholly false as it would be to accept them in toto. There is 
plainly an element of truth in “mental healing” which must be 
recognized by all who know anything of the influence of mind 
over body. How far this can go in the cause and cure of certain 
classes of ailments we do not know. It would be an easy matter 
to collect a vast amount of honestly given evidence going to 
establish the most extraordinary cures wrought in this way, but 
most of this evidence, if not all of it, would break down com- 
pletely or be found insufficient when subjected to rigid scientific 
method. This statement is not the expression of mere opinion ; 
it is based on the results of experience and investigation. No 
greater boon could come to the human race than a safe and inex- 
pensive ( ?) way of curing diseases by “absent treatment”; but 
nothing worse can befall it than a return to the days when desire 
determined belief and fanaticism fastened it. For example, if 
we take the case given touching the disappearance of warts from 
Lord Bacon’s hands (see chapter on Uses of Superstitions, p. 156), 
and study the conditions carefully, we will see that there are many 
ways of explaining how the result might have been brought about, 
aside from the power of superstitious charm or even the effect 
of the imagination. It is a well known fact that warts disappear 
without any attempt at conscious removal ; and a change in the 
systemic condition which would cause the disappearance of one 
would likely have the same effect on all. The extra attention he 
naturally gave to them as the result of having a charm placed 
on them by a person in high standing might have unconsciously 
brought to bear upon them some objective curative agent. Then, 
too, under certain conditions the grease from a bacon rind may 
in itself be a sufficient cure. So many other possibilities suggest 
themselves, that it would certainly be unscientific to conclude that 
the charm was the main element in effecting the removal. But 


182 University of California Publications in Education . L Vo1 - 


5 


one must not say that it is impossible to remove warts by the use 
of the numerous charms given. So far as I know, it has not been 
demonstrated to be true. And this suggests that it would be an 
interesting bit of work to try some one of these charms on a great 
number of people. It is easily within the range of careful experi- 
mentation. If some one were to spt to work in a careful way and 
find that, under given conditions and with the accompanying 
charms, warts will invariably disappear within a given limited 
time, when counted, or when rubbed with beans, or touched with 
an old bone, and that they would not do so without the charm 
element, then we should know that these cures at least have a 
basis of truth. Even if the charm succeeded in 75 per cent., say, 
of 5,000 cases, it would establish a probability approximating the 
truth. Until something like this is done, we can only say we 
cannot believe in the charm-cure for warts, for with our present 
knowledge it is not within the bounds of reason. 

Doubtless much greater use is made of superstitious remedies 
among the folk than ordinarily comes to light. One needs only 
to live among them for a short time to realize that belief in all 
sorts of charms for diseases have still a very strong hold on their 
minds. The following suggestive and amusing bit of supersti- 
tious practice came to my attention in November, 1903, and is 
worth relating because it is not only illustrative of a great 
number of similar customs prevailing throughout Europe but 
it shows clearly how readily the minds of such people take to 
superstitious evidence, and likewise how impossible it is for them 
to restfully rely on anything else. It is a case which represents 
a mixture of superstitious faith, superstitious religion, and a 
bungling attempt at rationalistic procedure. It happened that 
in a certain small village in Bavaria a peasant’s cow became very 
sick. Instead of sending for a veterinary to treat the creature, 
several old peasants came together and sprinkled the body of the 
cow with holy-water, at the same time praying and counting the 
beads of their rosaries. Then they gave her a so-called magic 
drink (Zaubertrank) , the while reciting a bit of doggerel which 
began 

‘ t Christus haben sie auf gehenkt 


Die Kuh hat den Darm verrenkt. ’ 1 


1907] 


Dresslar . — Superstition and Education. 


183 


As all this was useless, they then sent for a veterinary. As soon 
as he came he saw by the evidence at hand that the bowels of the 
eow had been corroded by the acid administered, and that she 
was bound to die. The people would not believe it, and said this 
was simply an excuse to cover up his inability, for they knew 
perfectly well that the doctor was too pig-headed to know how 
to help her. The veterinary knew the peasant mind too well to 
think for a moment that he could convince them of their error, 
and so he was compelled to shield himself by taking momentarily 
their point of view. He asked them to recount accurately what 
they had done and how they had prayed. When they had done 
this, he replied, “Yes, but have you said also ‘Amen’?” With 
confusion, they said, “No, we have not said that.” “Well, you 
see,” he retorted, “you have indeed sheep-heads to forget the 
chief point, and so how can I be blamed for the death of your 


184 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


CHAPTER IX. 


ANIMALS IN SUPERSTITIOUS LORE. 


The mental lives of the highest of the lower animals and of 
men are in many ways very similar, in many radically different, 
but for the most part they understand each other pretty well, and 
consequently there exists a strong bond of sympathy and appre- 
ciative interest between them. This appreciation on the part of 
man seems directly proportional to the quality and amount of 
the mental power exhibited by the animals. The value and signif- 
icance of life depend upon mind, and man’s attitude toward the 
animals varies accordingly. The dominion which he has acquired 
over them has been made possible through the development of 
his general mental superiority. But in some special ways the 
lower animals exhibit powers of perception, and adjustment, and 
capabilities far surpassing those of a similar kind in man. The 
strange vision of the cat, the wonderful powers of smell which 
the dog possesses, and the unerring though narrow judgment of 
the bees are illustrative of this fact. As a result of the recog- 
nition of this special superiority, coupled with habits which he 
does not understand, and which are suggestive of hidden powers, 
man finds it easy to ascribe to animals occult and supernatural 
powers. It is only stating a bit of common knowledge to say that 
animals play a large part in the superstitions present in the minds 
of all people ; but it may not be so well known that those animals 
about which the common superstitions are woven are in the main 
those which are associated with the home, or that are frequently 
seen or heard near the home. 

The following table will show the number of superstitions 
collected relating to each creature named, the number of different 
kinds of superstitions with which it is associated, and the per cent, 
of belief expressed in them. For example, of all animals men- 
tioned, the cat appears oftenest. In all there were collected 315 
specimens referring to the cat. These are classifiable into seventy- 
five different varieties, and a little more than 39 per cent, of them 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


185 


were believed in by those who furnished them. Those animals 
which appear in less than five examples are not given in this table, 
but are mentioned in another place. 



Number of 
Specimens 

Number of 
different 
varieties 

Percentage 

of 

belief 

Cats 

315 

75 

39 

Dogs 

- 195 

64 

50 

Chickens 

139 

38 

42 

Birds 

64 

20 £ 

49 

Rabbits 

55 

18 

36 

Horses 

54 

23 

25 

Spiders 

49 

29 

28 

Snakes 

33 

17 

27 

Crickets 

23 

9 

57 

Owls 

14 

11 

30 

Wild geese 

11 

rr 

( 

72 

Doves 

6 

6 

33 

Fish 

6 

6 

50 

Bees 

5 

5 

60 

Buzzards 

5 

3 

80 


By glancing at the table one readily observes that the expe- 
riences here suggested smack of country life, or at least a closer 
contact with animals than modern city life affords. Indeed, if 
the reader will turn back to the classified lists and study the 


details carefully he will see in almost every instance that those 
superstitions which are associated with animals must have origi- 
nated in the minds of a rural folk, or at least of those thoroughly 
familiar with animals. Under no other conditions could animal 
life and human life come into such close and intimate relations. 
The common domestic animals, those with which he is associated 
daily, head the list. This hints at an important fact, viz., that 
those superstitions which are most permanently fastened in the 
minds of people are those which relate to the experiences of daily 
life and have survived despite the many opportunities afforded 
for proving them false. People believe it will bring bad luck to 
see a black cat cross their path, despite the fact that they have 
had hundreds of opportunities to prove that there is no necessary 
connection between such behavior of a black cat and future luck. 
But it will be seen that, while the table makes it clear that 
common domestic animals head the list, some of the most common 


186 University of California Publications in Education. (T°h 5 


are not mentioned at all. Why is it that the cow, the sheep, and 
the pig* seem so conspicuously absent? The only direct answer 
one can give to this question is that they did not occur often 
enough in the superstitions collected to appear in this list. 
Among all the thousands given, the cow is mentioned twice, the 
sheep once, the pig three times. If one seeks to find a reason for 
this curious omission two important facts immediately present 
themselves. In the first place, the mental life of these animals is 
dull, comparatively weak and uninteresting. They live a slug- 
gish, uneventful life, and furnish little or no suggestion of 
superiority at any point. In the second place, because of this 
general mental weakness they do not enter into such immediate 
or intimate companionship with man as does the dog, the cat, or 
even the chicken. “But, ” one may urge, “this theory will not 
hold, for surely the rabbit and the chicken are as weak-minded 
as the pig or sheep, and yet they stand high in the list. ' ’ On the 
other hand, it should be said, the rabbit is more active and 
suggests in its soft, noiseless motions and its sly shadow-loving 
propensities something mysterious and occult. The rooster, with 
his gaudy plumage, braggadocio manner, his keen vision, and his 
enormous voice, seems to compel recognition despite his general 
mental deficiency. (It will be noted that three-fourths of all the 
superstitions referring to chickens are about crowing roosters. ) 

One, somehow, cannot think of a cow, or a sheep, or a pig as 
possessing the requisite qualities of mind or action to play much 
part in superstitious lore. Their general mental life is low and 
they exhibit in no direction specially developed keenness. Neither 
is their behavior suggestive of some hidden power. 

It is worth while to recall in this connection, too, that the 
sheep, the pig, and the ox are the animals which have been most 
generally used in sacrificial ceremonies. The selection of these 
animals for such a purpose is doubtless due to many reasons ; 
such as their food and other values to man, their almost universal 
pr esence among men, the general economic esteem in which they 
are held, and the ease with which they can be managed. But 
from the point of view of this study it seems probable that either 
this special selection has resulted in part from the fact that 
comparatively few superstitions have been woven about them, 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


187 


or else their use in sacrificial worship has prevented the people 
from connecting* them with superstitious lore. For superstitious 
faith operates most frequently in such a way as to protect the 
animals to which it relates, or to render them so diabolical as to 
prevent their use in religious rites and ceremonies. It surrounds 
them with an air of mystery and power suggestive of supernat- 
ural care and guidance. We cite but a single example illustrative 
of this tendency; — the peasants, in parts of Europe, suffer much 
loss and great annoyance at times on account of the immense 
numbers of crows which over-run their grain fields. But they 
prefer to bear the depredations of these pests rather than run the 
risk of bringing upon themselves the ill-luck which they believe 
will come upon any one who kills a crow. 

But, on the other hand, it should be said that certain uncivil- 
ized tribes have been known to kill their animal gods, as a part 
of the ceremonies connected with their worship. 7 I have been 
unable to test by the use of other lists the truth of the general 
suggestion here made because of the differences in the methods 
used in collecting. Those lists which have been made as the 
result of recording hearsays, or the returns derived from helpful 
questionings, do not lend themselves to statistical treatment. It 
is possible, and indeed probable, that if collections similar to the 
one I have made, and as carefully gathered from the minds of 
young people of the leading foreign countries, were at hand, the 
figures would be somewhat changed. But with present knowl- 
edge the induction presented seems at least worth a passing 
consideration. 

When we turn to question the nature of the superstitions 
which men have associated with animals, we find they have to 
do with such a great variety of experiences that they evade 
any extended or definite classification. It is interesting to note, 
however, that a little over 56 per cent, of them represent the 
animals to which they refer as possessing power to foretell 
coming events which more or less directly affect man. In this 
sense, animals are regarded as superior to man, in that they 
possess this power of knowing in advance of him some of the 
experiences he must pass through. They are thus made to act 

7 See The Golden Bough , Frazer, Vol. I, p. 377. 


188 University of California Publications in Education. [ y °l. 5 


as prophets or mouth-pieces to reveal to men what the fates have 
in store for them. 

In order that man should understand the special messages 
which the animals carry to him it is, of course, necessary for 
him to know the language they use. He must be able to receive 
prophecies in terms of the prophet’s own mode of expression. 
Just as we have been taught by our poets, Nature speaks to all, 
but is understood only by those who know her language. But 
meanwhile, in what manner do animals reveal to men the good 
or evil tidings which they are supposed to proclaim ? The answer 
which we give to this question is a direct induction from the 
material collected and makes no pretense of further generality. 
Indeed it must not be taken as literally true of all the examples 
given. It is, however, true to the spirit of all and definitively 
true of the great majority. 

1. Here as elsewhere the most universal language is that of 
action. According to superstitious lore, when an animal has 
something good to reveal to man, it can easily accomplish this 
through ordinary simple behavior. But when his actions are 
unusual, or suggestive of mental disturbance, man interprets in 
terms of trouble and forebodings. When a cat merely washes its 
face, nothing more serious is to be announced than the coming of 
a visitor, the approach of fair weather or of rain. But when it 
gets on the house-top and cries uneasily, death or some other 
sorrow is coming to some member of the household. 

2. The shortest road to the emotional life of the folk is 
through the ear. The eye is more intellectual, and hence what is 
seen in the way of action suggests more reasonable interpreta- 
tions. But the howling of the wolf, the wail of a dog, the crying 
of a cat, the hooting of an owl, the booming of a bittern, the shriek 
of a night hawk, all awaken within him primitive fears, and he 
interprets the messages they are supposed to bear in terms of 
sorrow, dread, and death. ‘ ‘ But, ’ ’ it may be asked, 4 ‘ why should 
animals be represented as going to so much trouble to acquaint 
man with his future? What power directs or compels them to 
thus minister to him, or, if it is looked upon more as a voluntary 
service, what promptings lead them to such sympathetic desires V 1 
Those who consistently believe in superstitions of this sort an- 


v 


1907] Dresslar. — Superstition and Education . 189 

swer: “We do not know, but we are sure they reveal to us what 
in no other way we can know. It has proven true for us many 
times.” And here the argument seems to be at an end. But let 
us look a little further. The assumption in this belief is that 
all mind, even that which perchance lies behind and directs or 
compels the animals to do its bidding, owes in some way allegiance 
and service to man. The origin of this implied belief in the 
sympathetic unity of all mind grows out of man’s perceptions of 
similarity between his own mental life and that of other animals 
and his inability to dissociate his own personal desires from his 
perceptions and conclusions. Man’s individuality imposes upon 
him the unconscious foundations of his belief. The further back 
we go in the history of his mental development the more we find 
that this imposition has shaped his views, determined his reac- 
tions, and made possible much of his superstitious faith. 

Thought is naively regarded as something which is a mani- 
festation of some hidden entity, some “oversold” which has an 
existence apart but can reveal itself only by means of the mental 
lives of animals and man. That is to say, the folk mind insists 
on imposing on animal nature not only a capability of superior 
insight in certain directions, but what is more interesting, a de- 
sire to communicate this insight to man, at such a time and in 
such a way as to serve as a warning or guide to him. In other 
words, there is here exhibited a sort of naive philosophy of 
common purpose and common sympathy which unites human 
life, animal life, and even the inorganic world into one psychic 
sodality, or even psychic unity. It is another illustration of that 
animistic belief, which is so firmly rooted in human nature, and 
so persistently supported by it. It is an attitude which might be 
characterized as an unconscious dynamic desire on the part of 
mankind to attain unto an all inclusive unitv in the mental 


cosmos. 


190 University of California Publications in Education. [ Vo1 - 5 


CHAPTER X. 

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON SUPERSTITIONS? 

He who reads thoughtfully through the lists of superstitions 
given will be struck with the great variety of forms they have 
taken. He will also be possessed with the desire to see those 
specimens which have been duplicated oftenest segregated from 
the mass, in order that he may separately consider them. For, 
as far as it can be said of any, these are the superstitions which 
have taken hold of the common mind most tenaciously, have been 
recalled and applied most frequently, and hence are most repre- 
sentative of the superstitious holdings of today. In anticipation 
of this desire and with a view to dealing more directly with them, 
the following list has been made. It includes those which were 
reported by twenty-five or more different individual students. 
They are classified in the order of their frequency and will repay 
a patient consideration. 


If you drop the dish rag, you will have company 

Thirteen is an unlucky number 

If you break a looking-glass, you will have bad luck 

Evil will come to you if you start on a journey on 
Friday 

If you give to a friend as a present a knife or any 
edged instrument, it will cut your friendship 

To open an umbrella in the house brings bad luck 

If you see the new moon over your right shoulder, it is 
good luck 

Never begin a piece of work on Friday, for you will 
have bad luck if you do 

If a rooster crows before the front door, you will have 
company 


0) 

c 

' 

— 0) 

Xfl 

<u 

W 

r 9 ^ 


*4 * 

c 

E-* 

77 

39 

22 

138 

75 

49 

23 

127 

48 

49 

16 

113 

52 

24 

21 

97 

24 

33 

32 

89 

61 

21 

6 

88 

43 

38 

6 

87 

44 

20 

15 

79 

46 

27 

6 

79 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


191 


See a pin and pick it up, 

All the day you ’ll have good luck 

See a pin and let it lay, 

You’ll have bad luck all the day 

If thirteen sit together at table, one of the number will 
die before the year ends 

If a task be begun on a Friday, it will never be success- 
fully done 

To find a pin with the point toward you is good luck 

If two friends walk on the opposite sides of a post, they 
will quarrel 

If you find a liorse-slioe, you will have good luck 

If you see the new moon over your left shoulder for the 
first time, you will have bad luck 

To dream of a death means a wedding 

If your nose itches, you will have a visitor 

To find a four-leaved clover will bring good luck 

If your left ear burns, some one is speaking ill of you .... 

To drop a fork is a sign a man is coming 

If your right ear burns, some one is speaking well of 
you 

If you sing before breakfast, you will cry before night 

If you hang a horse-shoe over your door, you will have 
good luck 

It is bad luck for a black cat to cross the path in front 
of you 

If you make a wish upon seeing the first star in the 
evening, it will come true 

If you make a wish while looking at a load of hay, it 
will come true provided you do not look at the hay 
again 


«+H 

& q 

«4H 

OJ 

- ® 
O • i— i 

<D 

Z3 43 

*3 

^ <x> 
W 

cs rn 
Pm W 


o 

Eh 

42 

24 

11 

77 

42 

24 

11 

77 

35 

25 

16 

76 

25 

20 

26 

71 

32 

30 

r* 

/ 

69 

25 

24 

18 

67 

35 

24 

7 

66 

29 

24 

3 

56 

31 

15 

8 

54 

31 

16 

6 

53 

23 

21 

7 

51 

30 

14 

4 

48 

26 

6 

15 

47 

26 

15 

4 

45 

31 

9 

5 

45 

27 

13 

5 

45 

28 

9 

5 

42 

24 

17 

1 

42 

30 

10 

o 

42 


17 14 9 


If a dog howls, it is a sign of death in the family 


40 


192 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


It is bad luck to sit at the table when thirteen are 
present 

Friday is an unlucky day 

If you kill a cat, you’ll have bad luck 

If a person comes in your home through the front door 
and leaves through the back door, it will bring you 
more company 

It will bring good luck to pick up a pin 

If you open an umbrella in the house, it brings death to 
' some one in the family 

If you dream of snakes, you have an enemy 

If the palm of your left hand itches, it is a sign of 
money 

If you see the new moon over your left shoulder, good 
luck will follow 

If you drop a knife, a woman is coming 

If you start on a journey and then turn back for some- 
thing which was forgotten, it is sure to bring you 
bad luck 

If your right ear burns, some one is talking good of 
you; and if your left ear burns, some one is talking 
ill of you 

If you break a mirror, you will have bad luck 

If you cut your hair in the new moon, it will grow better 

If any kind of a garden tool, such as a hoe or spade, be 
carried in the house, it signifies death in the family 

If you drop a fork, it means a woman is coming to see 
yon 

To drop a knife means you will have a man caller 

If a bird flies in at your window, there will be a death 
in the family 


No 

Belief 

Partial 

Belief 

Full 

Belief 

Totals 

22 

12 

5 

39 

25 

8 

4 

37 

16 

11 

8 

35 

20 

8 

6 

34 

18 

14 

o 

Li 

34 

25 

8 

1 

34 

17 

8 

8 

33 

18 

7 

8 

33 

22 

10 

— 

32 

23 

6 

2 

31 

14 

10 

7 

31 

25 

5 

1 

31 

14 

14 

2 

30 

7 

9 

14 

30 

13 

9 

7 

29 

14 

5 

9 

28 

90 

_ 

6 

— 

28 

11 

11 

5 

27 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education . 


193 


1907] 







0 . 



73 

2 


CQ 


'A 

73 

CO 


-ji 


o 

EH 


When you see the first star at night, look steadily at it 


while saying the following rhyme: 

Starlight, star bright, 

First star I’ve seen tonight; 

I wish I may, I wish I might 
Have the wish I wish tonight. 

Then make your wish, and it will come true 17 7 3 27 

If you drop a knife, a fork, or spoon, you may look for 

company 18 4 4 26 

If you pass under a ladder leaning against a window, 

you will have bad luck 15 10 1 26 

It will bring bad luck to turn back after having started 

on a journey 10 13 3 26 

Dream of the dead, you will hear from the living 13 7 6 26 

If you change a garment which has been put on wrong 

side out, it will bring bad luck 8 13 4 25 

Dream of a wedding, sign of a funeral 8 12 5 25 

It is the sign of a quarrel to spill salt 15 7 3 25 


There are two general notions, suggested by a study of this 
special list, to which I wish briefly to call attention. 

In the first place, the percentage of belief in these most 
common superstitions is slightly greater than it is in the speci- 
mens making up the collection as a whole. Forty-seven per cent, 
of the judgments here set forth are affirmative of belief. This 
gives additional assurance that the conclusions set forth in the 
chapter on Belief in Superstition are conservative and reliable. 

In the next place, all of the conclusions or interpretations 
given to the superstitions in this list are without an exception 
expressed in terms of human life or experience. They represent, 
in other words, an unconscious attitude on the part of man to set 
himself over against the objective facts of life in such a way as to 
make it plain that he believes the objective world has no meaning 
unless it is referred to himself. They are expressions of a tacit 
belief that all things that exist or happen have some definite and 
necessary relation to human life. For example, it would be just 


194 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol.5 


as rational to conclude that it would cause the crickets to 

chirp vigorously, if you first saw the new moon over your right 

shoulder, as it would to conclude that the same sort of a vision 

would bring you good luck. But the latter interpretation appears 

because it touches and has to do with human activitv and human 

«/ 

welfare. 

Thus it is that a sort of insistent native egoism has shaped the 
faith of the folk and dominated in their judgments. 

It is necessary to say at the conclusion of this chapter that 
the suggestions here given make no pretension to finality, and are 
made merely on the basis of the evidence furnished by the mate- 
rial given in the lists. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


195 


CHAPTER XI. 

ON MENTAL PREFERENCE FOR ODD NUMBERS. 

In the lists given there are 120 different varieties of super- 
stitions making distinctive use of numbers. This does not include 
those wherein numbers enter as a mere secondary matter, but 
only those in which the numbers carry with them the superstitious 
notion involved. For example, there is no special significance 
attached to the number 2 in the superstition which says, ‘ ‘ It will 
cause trouble between two people if they are separated by a post 
while walking together. ’ ’ The danger here suggested lies not in 
the number, but in being separated and in passing on opposite 
sides of a post. Hence all examples of this sort have been ex- 
cluded from the present calculations. 

Of the 120 varieties mentioned, only twenty refer to even 
numbers, and these, with the exception of one or two, are com- 
paratively unimportant. All of the others use odd numbers. 
Narrowing the classification further, we find that ninety-seven 
out of the hundred using odd numbers use 3, 7, 9, or 13. In 
other words, these figures lead us to expect to find more than 80 
per cent, of all superstitions, referring to numbers, making use 
of 3, 7, 9, or 13. These, then, can with propriety be designated 
as the numbers especially appropriated by the mind to express 
and embody superstitious notions. Why they have come to be so 
appropriated is a question which cannot be answered definitely 
and finally from the data here listed. But these facts taken with 
others already known, which were gathered from a wider range, 
enable us to set forth with some degree of assurance what appears 
to be a rational theory for the origin of this apparently general 
mental preference. 

The partiality shown for odd numbers in the Bible, especially 
for 3 and 7, must have exerted some influence, in later times, in 
furthering their use in a mystical way. But this of course offers 
no suggestion as to why they came originally to be given a pref- 
erence in the folk mind. It serves only to remove the question 


196 University of California Publications in Education. [ Vo1 * 


further back, and leads us to ask, “Why were they preferred, 
other things equal, by biblical writers?” 

Before we attempt to answer this question, let us further 
consider the data. I have found by actual count that in the Bible 

3, 5, and 7 are used more than twice the number of times that 4, 
6, and 8 are. But since 5 is not used so often as 3 or 7, as we 
have suggested elsewhere, if we combine the number of times that 
3 and 7 occur, we find that these two are used more times than 

4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 combined. If I have made no mistake in counting, 
and it was done with care, 3 is found 758 times, while 7 occurs 
498 times, making a total when combined of 1,256. The other 
numbers, viz., 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 occur respectively 426 times, 370 
times, 238 times, 121 times, 95 times. Combining these amounts, 
we have a total of 1,250 to set over against 1,256 as noted above. 

The probability that such a differing use of these numbers 
would be made as the result of the demands of external conditions 
is very small indeed. For example, when we see that 7 is so 
markedly preferred to either 6 or 8, we cannot safely say that 
this is probably due to accidental causes. But had we not ob- 
tained from other sources a wider knowledge of this mental 
partiality, we could not feel so certain that we are here dealing 
with a sort of unconscious mental habit. Elsewhere we have 
referred to the fact that in guessing, when there are no possible 
external hints of why one digit should be preferred to another, 
there is present in the minds of the guessers an unconscious 
partiality for odd numbers sufficiently strong to compel their 
strikingly disproportionate use. Through a study made some 
years ago on Guessing as Influenced by Number Preferences 
the writer was enabled to state this truth, and it has been cor- 
roborated by an investigation recently made by Professor E. C. 
Sanford. 8a 

It is interesting to see how some of the older writers on 
numbers attempted to explain this curious partiality by referring 
to usages which in reality owe their origin to number preferences. 
For example, in an arithmetic published by Etienne De La Roche 
in 1538, he extols the great and high mysteries contained in the 

8 See Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 54, pp. 781-786. 

8il See Amer. Jour. Psychology, Vol. 14, pp. 383-402. 


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Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


197 


number 3, and attempts to account for its mystic character in the 
following way: “At first, “ says he, “God hath been pleased to 
appear as three persons, — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. It has 
pleased Him to create three hierarchies, and in each 3 orders of 
angels. There are 3 things in Jesus Christ, to wit: deity, the 
soul, and humanity. The priest makes 3 parts of the precious 
body of Jesus Christ in the mass. Three holy orders sing the 
mass, to wit : the priest, the deacon, and the subdeacon. Three 
times are sung the Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus , and the Agnus Dei 
qui tollis peccata in the mass. By 3 nails was fastened the blessed 
Redeemer, Jesus Christ, on the cross. There are 3 degrees of 
penitence, to wit : contrition, confession, and satisfaction. There 
are 3 parts of satisfaction, to wit : fasting, alms, and prayer. 
There are 3 divine virtues, to wit : with heart, with word, and 
with deed. Man may offend 3 things, to wit : God, himself, and 
his neighbor. God hath disposed all things by number, by weight, 
and by measure. There were 3 things in the ark : the rod, the 
manna, and the Mosaic law. Three places are deputed for man 
after death, to wit : paradise, purgatory, and hell. Three vows 
do the minor friars vow when they make profession, to wit : 
poverty, obedience, and chastity. There are 3 natural principles, 
to wit : form, matter, and privation ; or power, object, and act. 
There are 3 souls, to wit : vegetative, sensitive, and rational. 
There are 3 powers in the rational soul, to wit : will, memory, 
and understanding. Bodies have 3 dimensions, to wit : length, 
breadth, and thickness. The world is divided into 3 parts, to wit : 
Asia, Europe, and Africa. And thus appears the excellence and 
magnificence of this worthy 3.” In speaking of 7, he says: 
“God the Creator regards it in his most admirable work. For 
he has created 7 planets, 7 metals, 7 colors, and 7 tastes. And 
when he had created everything in six days, he rested on the 
seventh, which is a thing of great mystery. There are therefore 
7 days in the week. There are 7 principal virtues, to wit : three 
divine and four cardinal. There are 7 other virtues against the 
mortal sins. There are 7 works of bodily mercy, and 7 works of 
spiritual mercy. There are 7 sacraments. There are 7 orders in 
the holy church. There are 7 ages of man. There are 7 windows 
through which the ordinary senses are exercised : the two eyes. 


198 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol.5 


the two ears, the two nostrils, and the mouth. There are 7 days 
between the setting in of a disease, and the critical day. There 
are 7 climates in the habitable earth. ’ ’ 9 

He accounts for each of the other numbers up to and includ- 
ing 12 in the same general fashion, but it is noticeable that he 
seems to make out a stronger case, on the whole, for the odd 
numbers than he does for the even. Especially is this true for 
8 and 7 ; that is, he surrounds these with more mysticism, gives 
them a larger religious significance, and explains them more at 
length. 

Of course it is not worth while to say that such talk furnishes 
no explanation. Beneath and behind all of these illustrations the 
same question appears, Why did the mind show in the beginning 
its preference for odd numbers? Why did those who wrote the 
Bible, or those who developed religious rites and ceremonies, or 
many of those who philosophized about all things come to show 
such a decided tendency to adopt a preferential though perhaps 
unconscious attitude toward the use of odd-number relations in 
their thinking ? 

It is not my intention to claim that the answer which is here 
given to these questions is complete and exhaustive, nor that the 
theory set forth herein is unassailable. I merely mean to say 
that the answer given is in accord with the facts, and that the 
theory set forth seems to be sufficient to account for the facts. 

Naturally such a list of mystical uses for these numbers as 
are here recited would when brought to the attention of the folk 
mind increase their superstitious awe for them, especially with 
predispositions in that direction. But men would not have made 
such a list in the beginning, neither would they have developed 
such associations, had there not been some psychic cause for so 
doing. Imitation would account in part or perhaps entirely for 
their continuance, but not for their beginning. Besides, if such 
preferences were at first accidental, and then merely preserved 
through imitation and repetition, it is not at all probable that the 
same accident would have happened among peoples so widely 
separated. The fact that we are here dealing with a mental 

9 See the translation in the Popular Science Monthly, Yol. 25, p. 545. I 
• have not seen the original work. 


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Dresslar. — 8 uperstition and Education. 


199 


tendency, which seems to hold in general of whatever tribe or 
race which is sufficiently developed to use numbers, is evidence 
that we are dealing with something that is not accidental, or 
wholly continued through imitation. To cite only a few examples 
illustrative of this wide-spread usage, we know that there were 
3 fates and 9 muses in Greek mythology, and that the Romans 
had corresponding notions ; that the ancient Peruvians had a 
7-day week, though they did not derive it from the 7 planets as 
did the Egyptians; that the Mexican Indians preserved a story 
of a flood and that 7 survivors repeopled the earth ; that there 
were 7 stages of Roostem, as well as 7 years of magic enthrallment 
for Tannhauser; that in the old stories of Thibet there were 7 
Shan brothers, suggestive of the 7 sons of so many of the Jewish 
patriarchs ; 10 that the old Chippeway, the Adam of the North 
American Indians, charmed his life away with 7 teeth of the 
beaver ; that the beautiful Reed maiden in the Magyar legends is 
blooming in the 77th island of the Black Sea, and is sought for 
by the prince who had on his head 3 golden hairs grown from one 
root ; that in the Russian legends the story is told of how Ivan 
the Tsarevich, being but 9 days old, and having spent these in 3 
sleeps, each of 3 days and 3 nights duration, arose and went in 
search of a peerless beauty for his bride ; and that the Magyars 
have a story of the great Freezer, one of the demigods, who had 
9 pairs of boots on his feet, 9 shirts and 9 pairs of drawers on his 
body, 9 neck-cloths on his neck, and 9 sheep-skin overcoats on his 
back. * 11 It would not be a difficult task for the reader to extend 
this list almost indefinitely, and by illustrative examples convince 
himself that we are dealing with an apparently firmly fixed 
tendency of mind, however curious it may seem. Wherever 
peoples have developed sufficiently to be able to handle numbers 
to the extent here indicated, it seems that because of some sub- 
jective condition or stimulus they have acquired the habit of 
using odd numbers under these conditions far more than they do 
even numbers. 

If we examine into this tendency in a somewhat narrow and 

10 See Folk-lore and Legends , Oriental , Gibbings, London. 

11 See Curtin, Myths and Folk-tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and 
Magyars, p. 492. 


200 University of California Publications in Education . 


Vol. 5 


naturalistic way, and attempt to account for it in this spirit, it 
seems entirely probable that the mental condition which prompts 
this preference has developed as a product of natural adjustment. 
The stem of every tree, the stalk of every plant which lifts itself 
above the ground, the body of every bird, or insect, or mammal 
forms a centre of support about which are balanced the branches, 
the wings, and all of the paired members. Even the mountains 
with their crests and sides, the canons with their slopes meeting 
in a central trough, and the sky with its morning, noon, and 
night, bear in upon the minds of all who observe, a trinitarian 
demand of balance. Furthermore, all of the stones that have 
tumbled down the mountain-sides have come to rest only when a 
location has been found which enables them to be balanced about 
a central support. Thus in whatever direction we look out upon 
Nature we see the objects upon which our vision rests, of necessity 
adjusted to the demands made by the force of gravitation, and 
exhibiting this fundamental condition of balance and stability. 
It is not strange, then, that under such constant and almost 
invariable stimulus the mind of man has emerged so adjusted 
and tempered to Nature as to demand in his art and thinking the 
same satisfying conditions, which can be furnished only when, 
considered from the numerical point of view, there is an odd 
number of elements, about one of which the others must balance. 

If we look at this in a more subjective fashion, and attempt 
to account for it on the basis of some fundamental and underived 
quality of mind, we are at once confronted with the fact that it 
does not always hold good, but exists merely as a predisposition, 
or preference. If it were an original, though unconscious, eject 
or imposition of the mind, then it would be regularly imposed 
when no compelling objective necessity intervened. If it were 
an underived, fundamental aesthetic demand of the soul, it would 
be almost invariably observed and exclusively dominant. It 
seems probable therefore that as a result of Nature’s external 
adjustment to the force of gravitation, and our mental adjust- 
ment to a nature so conditioned, we have acquired a tendency to 
think in this fashion, as well as an aesthetic demand to construct 
our art forms accordingly. In other words, the mind has been 
so modified by this prevailing stimulus as to show not only a 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


201 


preference for such relations but to take greater pleasure in an 
art that recognizes it. It is certainly more restful and satisfying 
to look at a group of objects arranged according to this demand 
of balance than it is to view them when their number and 
arrangement precludes this possibility. Of course this holds 
only when the number of objects is not too great to form, when 
taken together, a single perceptual unit. This fact explains why 
these oft-recurring numbers are limited to 3, 7, and 9, and also 
why 3 occurs oftener than 7, and 7 than 9. For generally, if we 
go further than 9, we pass beyond what may be properly termed 
the perceptual span, and make it necessary to arrange them into 
two or more groups. If we look at the seven candle-sticks, the con- 
ventionalized acanthus, or any harmonious design based on these, 
the mind immediately comes to rest in the perception of a middle, 
a beginning, and an end. In such arrangement of the objects of 
vision we most quickly grasp the group in its entirety, and are 
as a result conscious of a completeness and of an equilibrium 
lacking in any even-numbered group. If the reader is inclined 
to doubt this, let him substitute eight sockets in the candle-stick 
for seven, or group the bric-a-brac on the shelf without reference 
to a central relief of some kind, and then study the difference in 
the sensations produced. There is a physiological and a psycho- 
logical demand for equilibrium, which finds its best satisfaction 
in a tripartite division. We even see this trinitarian demand 
carried over into philosophy and argumentation. There are most 
always three main points, three lines of argument, three chief 
divisions of the subject, or three fundamental reasons set forth 
in proof of a given proposition. Now an odd number of objects 
admits of this method of grouping, while an even number does 
not. In 9 there are either three threes, one in the middle and one 
on each side; or three parts made of it by balancing four objects 
on each side of the keystone unit. 

That 13 has acquired such a prominent place in superstitious 
numbers has been explained by some as due to the emotional and 
mystical suggestions growing out of the biblical account of the 
last supper. The only evidence which this study affords on this 
point lies in this direction, but is insufficient for arriving at any 
conclusion. This evidence — if it could be dignified bv calling it 

t.' C? 


202 University of California Publications in Education. l Vo1 * 5 


evidence — consists in the fact that almost all of the superstitions 
listed which are connected with this number refer in one form or 
another to the danger which is likely to result from 13 people 
dining together. But Winckler has shown that essentially the 
same superstition existed in the minds of the Babylonians at least 
three thousand years before the birth of Christ. 12 

The relation of odd numbers to balance has been discussed by 
many writers on aesthetics, and it is shown by all of these that 
satisfactory balance necessitates the arrangement or grouping of 
objects so as to present an odd number of perceptual elements. 
After having cited many examples showing that Nature is con- 
stantly presenting to us objects symmetrical in form, Grant 
Allen, in his interesting volume on physiological aesthetics, says 
“from the constant sight of all these symmetrical objects, and 
others like them, and from the contemplation of his own fellows, 
primeval man learns to expect a regular order of parts under 
certain circumstances.” 13 But Professor Raymond in his volume 
on the Genesis of Art Form has shown this relation in a more 
careful and exact way, and upon him we can rely for authori- 
tative conclusions touching this point. He says : “In fact this 

arrangement” (an odd number placed between) “augments the 
effect of balancing, by that which, as we shall presently find, is the 
main characteristic of symmetry; for so placed the odd feature 
acts like an intersecting line clearly showing — as the body does 
between the wings of a bird, or the head between the shoulders, 
or the nose between the eyes — just how the pairs are separated 
or related. The same is true of groups, too, formed of five and 
seven or any other odd numbers. Only when there are sufficient 
factors to make it difficult to count them at a single glance is it 
as easy to secure the effects of balance with the latter as with 
the former. In the Greek temples, the front peristyle — to which 
as a whole was given principality — always contained an even 
number of columns, in order that before the central door there 
might be a central space between them. This space, too, was 
wider than that between the other columns, and the spaces be- 

12 See Hugo Winckler, Die babylonische Kultur in ihren Bezieliungen zur 
unsringen, pp. 27-28. 

13 See Physiological Aesthetics, Grant Allen, p. 176. 


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Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


203 


tween the columns farthest to the right and left were narrower 
than those between any others. Thus, in the principal feature 
considered in itself, the Greeks secured the effect of symmetry 
through that of principality with balance. 14 

“To one looking up at a building, for instance, the basement 
often seems to complement the roof, or a first story to comple- 
ment the third ; while the principal part, or at least the pivot 
line of balance, seems to be between them. It is worth noticing 
in this connection, too, that the Greeks, according to all testi- 
mony, almost invariably grouped different architectural features, 
whether placed perpendicularly or horizontally, according to 
proportions determined by odd numbers, 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. ; and also 
the fact that the majority of men feel that a house or tower 
having an equal number of openings or divisions of spaces either 
horizontally or perpendicularly is less pleasing than a house 
having 3 or 5 windows on a story, or having one and a half, two 
and a half, or 3 or 5 stories, or four stories with an apparent 
roof. ’ 715 

Thus we see that the mental preference which we have set 
forth is fully recognized in aesthetics, but so far as I am aware 
there has been no previous attempt to show that the preference 
for odd numbers, when totally dissociated from objective condi- 
tions, may have its genesis in the same kind of experience as that 
producing a demand for balance in art forms. 

May it not be true that this mental demand for unity finds 
its explanation partly in the fact that the mind shrinks from the 
consideration of multiplicity, because the resulting impressions 
are too dim and evanescent to make any permanent or lasting 
effect ? “If you want to make an impression, 7 7 says Hunt, in his 
Talks on Art , “you must sacrifice as many details as possible.” 
And it is the chief function of balance to suggest by the arrange- 
ment of the details the central idea, and thereby emphasize its 
relative importance. 

Basing our conclusion upon the facts here set forth and upon 
those referred to in other studies, it seems that we are not far 
from the truth when we suggest that this habitual preference 

14 Raymond, op. cit., p. 87. 

15 Raymond, op. cit., p. 96, 


204 University of California Publications in Education. (T°l. 5 


shown for the use of odd numbers in superstitions, grows out of 
the same general stimulus as that which predisposes the mind 

toward an aesthetic desire that finds satisfaction in odd-number 
relations in art forms. 

In other words, the general unconscious preference for odd 
numbers is a mental bias developed out of conditions imposed 
upon external nature by the force of gravitation. 

From the point of view of logic, this preference might be 
considered as the expression of a native and necessary law of the 
mind. That is to say, the third or odd element could be inter- 
preted as a necessary condition for the mediation of two opposing 
or differentiated ideas. In other words, thought necessitates the 
consideration of a balancing or unifying element, for in no other 
way, according to this view, can the mind resolve opposing 
concepts and thus rise to a higher one. 

The suggestions made in this chapter are, of course, tenta- 
tively presented. There is not sufficient evidence to warrant any 
attempt at final conclusions. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education . 


205 


CHAPTER XII. 

“OVER THE LEFT.” 

While classifying and ordering the complete lists of super- 
stitions given, it was noticed that there seemed to be an undue 
proportion of dark and uncanny interpretations and suggestions 
connected with those referring to the left side of the body. This 
aroused interest and led to a segregation and study of all those 
having to do in any definite way with the right or left, and 
especially those making use of the right or left parts of the body. 
As a result of this study it was found that out of the whole 
number of specimens classified 274 referred, in one form or 
another, to some member of the right side of the body, while 275 
were connected with the left. But the interesting fact about this 
bilateralism is that 85 per cent, of those associated with the right 
side are superstitions of good luck, good fortune, or some form 
of happiness, and only 15 per cent, presage ill-fortune or danger. 
In the case of those referring to the left members of the body, the 
opposite is true. At least 75 per cent, of these directly foretell 
bad fortune, impending danger, or trouble. Exact figures cannot 
be given in the latter case, because a few specimens are so 
ambiguous in their interpretations that one cannot be sure of 
what those who reported them or those who expressed a belief in 
them really meant. But when 75 per cent, is chosen it can be 
relied on as a distinct and conscious under-estimate, rather than 
an exaggeration of the facts as stated. 

We have no desire to make any broad generalizations out of 
these facts, though the data at hand certainly and decidedly 
indicate a very clearly marked difference in emotional preference 
for the two sides of the body. But if we put these facts along 
side of many other well established facts relating to bilateral 
asymmetry, we can with a large degree of certaintv declare that 
this preference illustrates a well developed bias of mind, though 
for the most part an unconscious one. 


206 University of California Publications in Education. [ v °l. 5 


Notwithstanding the fact that we are to a large degree 
bilaterally symmetrical in our anatomical make-up, through 
inheritance, training, and custom, most of us are right-handed 
right-footed, and consequently proportionately clextral minded. 
That is to say, those who give preference to the right hand and 
the right foot in the active work of life are inclined to become 
more consciously sensitive of the condition and powers of these 
members than of the corresponding ones of the other side. There 
is a livelier quality in the sensations resulting from the stimu- 
lations of the right finger-tips, a feeling of greater accuracy and 
general ability in the right arm, a clearer conscious dependence 
upon the strength and endurance of the right leg than is expe- 
rienced in the corresponding members of the opposite side. Upon 
this difference in the quality of the sensations experienced the 
mind makes and continues a preference for the right half of 
the body, even in general judgments. One is more conscious of 
himself and of the power of others in these more dextrous organs, 
and consequently they are preferred in thought and feeling as 
well as in action. 

Experiments upon school children show that there is more 
disparity between the right and left sides of the body of the 
brighter pupils than there is between the right and left of the 
duller ones. Doubtless this same augmented difference holds 
throughout life, or at least to the period of senescence. It is 
nothing more nor less than the result of specialization which 
increases as growing thought-life calls upon the right members 
of the body for finer adjustments and more varied and perfect 
execution. Hence the right members become more the special 
organs of the will than the left, induce a greater proportion of 
emotional reaction, and altogether become more closely bound up 
with the mental life. That this specialization gives an advantage 
in accuracy, strength, control, and endurance of the right side 
there can be no doubt. But it seems equally certain that it 
introduces mental partialities not at all times consistent with well 
balanced judgment, or the most trustworthy emotional prompt- 
ings. Indeed this difference is recorded in the meaning and use 
of the two words, dextrous and sinister. The thought that relates 
itself to the stronger side is more rational than that which deals 
with the weaker and less easily controlled half. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


207 


In addition to this fundamental basis for psychic differen- 
tiation with respect to the left and right, it is probable that the 
beating of the heart, strange and wonderful to the primitive 
mind, had some influence in connecting the left side with the 
awful and mysterious. 

These facts and considerations give us a significant hint 
relative to the origin and development of certain classes of 
emotional impulses. We are in general but vaguely conscious 
of the inferiority of the left side, and yet this feeling is strong 
enough to make its influence felt in shaping the emotional 
attitude toward it. Where there is a persistent recognition of 
weakness or inefficiency, whether it be conscious or otherwise, 
there will always be associated with this weakness a feeling of 
fear and danger. ‘‘The Irish fishermen, when going to sea, must 
always enter the boat by the right side, no matter how incon- 
venient,' ?1G or how inconsistent it may seem. They can then face 
the dangers of their vocation with an emotional assurance not 
otherwise obtainable. 

Apparently the same sort of feeling is illustrated by the 
attitude of the inhabitants of Sarawak, for on the authority of 
Dr. Haddon we are told that “if a hawk appears on the wrong 
side (i.e., the left) when men are paddling, a few days away 
from home and nearing another village they immediately turn 
the boat right around, pull to the bank, and light a fire. By 
turning around they put the hawk on the right side, and being 
satisfied in their own minds, they proceed on their journey as 
before. ? ’ 1T 

The peasants in Oberpfalz see to it that a newly purchased 
cow enters her stall with her right foot first, otherwise they would 
fear lest something would happen to her . 18 According to the same 
authority, the peasants of East Prussia, when they wished to 
make a compact with the devil, were required to subscribe thereto 
by writing their names with blood drawn from the index finger 
of the left hand. 

16 See Lady Wilde, Ancient Legends of Ireland , Yol. II, p. 119. 

17 See Haddon, A. C., The Omen Animals of Aar aw ah, Pop . Sci. Mo., Yol. 
60, p. 83. 

18 Cf. Wuttke, Aberglauben, p. 411. 


208 University of California Publications in Education. [ Vo] - 5 

So it is we create most of our devils and direct them to attack 
us persistently in our most vulnerable places. It would be easy 
from this point of view to conclude that there is danger in 
allowing unilateral specialization to go too far, and that it would 
be wise to make special effort in elementary school work to coun- 
teract this unevenness. But, in the light of our present imperfect 
knowledge, it is hazardous to suggest any change looking toward 
any sacrifice in the efficiency of the right hand, that the left 
might be brought to a state of greater control and accuracy. 
And yet out of consideration for normal growth and unity in 
the central nervous system, it seems that there is a real need for 
making a greater effort to secure a better balancing of power and 
control than we are now making. This can be done through those 
exercises which, in the main, involve only the larger movements, 
and hence would not hinder to any appreciable degree specialized 
dextral efficiency. 

The sanest life is the one which feels competent in a many 
sided strength. The safest life is the even life. The best edu- 
cation fortifies the soul in all directions. Even Brownies cannot 
live in cultivated ground. At least this is what many European 
peasants believe, and they act on their belief by leaving a patch 
unplowed. 


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Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


209 


CHAPTER XIII. 

REMEMBERING SUPERSTITIONS. 

As we have said elsewhere, all superstitions herein classified 
were taken directly from the memories of young people, who had 
received them from their elders and will pass them down to 
others. It seems worthy of note that so many of these things 
should be held in mind and so readily reproduced. This capacity 
of memory seems more interesting when one recalls the fact that 
superstitions have appealed to the mind almost exclusively 
through voice and ear. They have been passed down from one 
generation to another orally and have shaped themselves to suit 
the natural requirements of the memory. Other things being 
equal, those which are best adjusted to the retentive and repro- 
ductive powers of the mind will survive longest and come to the 
surface most frequently. 

What, then, are the natural requirements of memory as 
illustrated in this list of superstitions ? 

1. They are, in the main, expressed in well balanced sen- 
tences, of such a length that they can be spoken with one breath. 
Usually the condition is stated first and followed by the con- 
clusion. For example, If you spill salt, you will have bad 
luck. ” The same general mouthing and tone effect, however, can 
be produced by inverting the order: “It is bad luck to burn a 

tree which has been struck by lightning. ” There is a distinct 
tonal cadence in all of the generic examples. In this way, both 
physiologically and psychologically they are well adjusted to 
the memory span. From the point of view of form it is very 
interesting and suggestive to compare them to the sentences pre- 
dominating so largely in the wisdom books of the Bible. For 
these, too, grew up in the mind of the folk and took form suitable 
for oral repetition and verbal memory. The third chapter of 
Proverbs, for example, is almost entirely made up of just such 
sentences. For immediate comparison, we quote two verses, the 
first and the last: ‘‘My son, forget not my law; but let thine 


210 University of California Publications in Education. [Vo 1 - 5 


heart keep my commandments. ’ ' “The wise shall inherit glory; 
but shame shall be the promotion of fools. ? ’ 19 

2. When the material which is presented to the mind is 
such as to awaken an instinctive interest, a prime condition for 
remembering is satisfied. No one can read, even calmly, the lists 
of superstitions given without experiencing a peculiar stirring of 
those native impulses, and, even though he professes no belief in 
any of them, there is a back-ground of emotional sympathy and 
a friendly attitude which causes the memory to seize them with 
avidity and retain them with comparatively little effort. But 
they are received with more eagerness by children, in whom these 
instincts are more active and less hidden bv the veneer of reason, 
than they are by adults. It requires no great effort of remin- 
iscent introspection for us to recall the peculiar childish but 
earnest faith some of these superstitions awakened within us in 
earlier years. The special organ of feeling, so to speak, which 
responds to superstitious lore bestirred itself more energetically 
then because it was neither inhibited by any strength of reason 
nor weakened by degeneration brought about through lack of 
exercise. Besides, children are told these things most frequently 
when their minds are astir with mystic interest and fanciful lore. 
They are even led to an exaggerated interest in them because 
superstitions have been used, and are still used, to frighten 
children into obedience or inspire them with awe. 

Superstitions satisfy the instinctive tendency of the youthful 
mind, and hence are received by it with peculiar native interest. 
Indeed they satisfy an emotional craving which clings to us all 
as a remnant of earlier conditions. Because of this natural 
adjustment the mind reacts toward them in such a way as to 
register a vivid and persistent impression of them. 

3. In the third place, many superstitions have been put into 
rhymed verse, mainly, I think, in response to a demand on the 
part of memory. This fact is noteworthy, for it shows that in the 
formation of this class of superstitions the same mental demands 
have been active which were influential in the shaping of early 

19 1 have been assured by my former colleague, Dr. Max Margolis, of the 
Department of Semitic Languages and Literatures, that the original Hebrew 
exhibits the same characteristics in this regard as the English version. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


211 


literary form. In the case of superstitions, the desire to produce 
a rhyme is often strong enough to change entirely their meaning. 
This accounts for some of the variations noticed and for con- 
flicting beliefs set forth in the lists. For example, one says : 

1 1 See a pin and let it lie, 

Come to sorrow bye and bye. ” 

AY bile another, getting the wrong grammatical form in mind, 
says : 

1 1 See a pin and let it lay, 

You’ll need that pin another day.” 

4. It does not require a prolonged study of the lists to reveal 
the fact that there are comparatively few of what may be called 
generic superstitions. The great majority of those current can 
be classed as species or varieties under these. For example, there 
are listed forty-one different kinds having to do with liorse-slioes. 
All but three of these could be classed as different interpretations 
of the superstitious significance of finding, picking up, hanging 
up, or throwing horse-shoes. Likewise there are twenty-four 
different interpretations of what will happen when one spills salt, 
the generic one being, “It is unlucky to spill salt.’’ 

These examples are illustrative of the general truth, that in 
the case of superstitions the folk memory has held closely to 
objective data, but has been unable to preserve faith and belief 
from the disintegrating influences of personal initiative and 
personal bias. This conclusion, it seems to me, will suggest an 
interesting question to the student of history. For it may be 
asked. Does not the same strength and weakness of memorv which 
are exhibited in the retention of superstitions show themselves in 
all those accounts of human endeavor preserved to us through 
tradition? On questions of objective fact the folk memory has 
proved to be worthy of serious respect, but in matters touching 
belief and interpretation it cannot be relied on with the same 
degree of assurance. This is true because these are just the 
things that most entangle themselves with egocentric personalities 
and most often emerge modified and distorted. 


212 University of California Publications in Education. I Vo1 - 5 


CHAPTER XIV. 

SUPERSTITION AND EDUCATION. 

Any plan of education which does not take into account the 
mental conditions and inheritances of the people for whom it 
is devised must be counted irrational and lacking in essential 
elements. No accurate calculations concerning the outcome of 
any educational policy can be made, unless such a policy is known 
to adapt itself thoroughly to the nature and needs of the life it 
seeks to influence. 

The attempt has been made in this investigation to bring into 
relief some of those attributes of human nature which, though 
often kept in the back-ground, are singularly potent in the deeper 
under-currents of behavior. As has been said elsewhere, this 
study was undertaken with the hope that its results would have 
some bearing on the larger questions concerning the conditions 
and culture of human nature. It is the purpose of this chapter 
to set forth briefly the suggestions arrived at from this point of 
view. The main question we have to ask is this : What qualities 
and needs of the common mind can we make out through such a 
study ? 

1. The popular notion of what constitutes scientific evidence 
is sadly in error. Great masses of the people have a very vague 
conception of what is meant by proof. When multitudes of 
people are willing to believe that bad luck follows directly on 
stepping over a broom, and are willing to evidence the fact by 
recalling instances where this was the case with them, what 
sort of an idea can they have of cause and effect? Here, as 
elsewhere, possible coincidence, interpreted by an expectant mind, 
suffices for a fundamental and an everlasting cause. Men are 
willing and eager to explain things; but as yet few have ever 
stopped to consider what explanation really means. The funda- 
mental fact, and the one of dominant importance, however, is 
that men do invariably seek to explain ; that they attempt to make 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education . 


213 


some explanation of things or to come to some conclusion about 
them. Without this tendency, science would never have been 
born. “ There is a point of view, then,” as Fiske remarks, “from 
which it may safely be said that there is very little absolute non- 
sense in the world.” But on the other hand, a study of the 
superstitions of mankind serves well to show the great lack of 
power to distinguish between sense and partial non-sense. What 
men have wanted to believe, what their unregenerated instincts 
have prompted them to believe, or what they have been frightened 
into believing, cannot be eradicated from their minds easily. The 
education that will make men reasonable cannot be a shallow 
education. It must sink deep, even into the spinal-cord, if it 
would produce results upon which society can calculate and rely. 

In early times no inevitable causation was admitted. God, or 
something that passed as God, was recognized as the origin of all 
things, and was immediately engaged in keeping things going. 
And if some unusual event occurred, it was a token that God 
through this agency was exhibiting variable causal relations. 
From this it was an easy step to where this invisible power be- 
came associated with the event itself ; so that everything seemed 
possessed of life and power; so that everything or every event 
with which man had to do acquired a sort of self-centered power 
which it could exhibit as a first cause. This semi-deification or 
animism is by no means merely a thing of the past. “If you will 
carry the left hind foot of a rabbit in your lower left vest pocket, 
it will bring you good luck all your days. ’ ' Do men really 
believe in such things? I have their earnest word that they do. 
Engineers feel safer, gamblers run greater risks, and business 
men make investments, trusting to the power of a rabbit’s foot 
for luck. When the “Klondyke fever” was at its height, a miner 
wrote back to his father in this wise : “If you and the boys can 
kill any rabbits up in the hills, send the feet to me, and I will 
dispose of the lot in round figures. I never saw men try to press 
their luck as they do here. A gambler arrived from St. Louis 
over the Dalton trail, and knowing that he would find other 
gamblers, he brought along a dozen rabbits’ feet and sold out the 
lot for $50 each.” But the rabbit's foot is only one of a great 
many things used for the same purpose. 


214 University of California Publications in Education. [ Vol. 5 


Interesting* illustrations of liow little attention is paid to 
evidence of proof concerning the truth of things is seen in the 
variations which superstitions undergo in transmission and use. 
People express firm belief in them, notwithstanding* one may be 
stated exactly in the reverse order of the other. For example : 

Potatoes planted in the dark of the moon will give a good 
crop. 

Potatoes planted in the light of the moon will insure a good 
crop. 

People believe in these, and the interesting fact is that about 
as many believe in one as in the other. They forget which to 
believe in, but that makes a very little difference. The value of 
the belief lies in the satisfaction resulting from believing in some 
mysterious thing. This ignorance of the true relation of cause 
and effect shows itself in a great many practical ways. You will 
find comparatively few men today who do not feel in a measure 
competent to pass judgment on the most complicated political 
situation of the day. Complex and serious problems of education 
are settled on five minutes’ notice; courses of study are mapped 
out while you wait. People who have never taught school a day 
are ready to enlighten the world at any time on the proper 
methods of teaching. Recipes are readily given for the cure of 
all the ills of humanity. And this reminds me that no better 
illustration can be found of how lightly causal relations are con- 
sidered than by reciting just a few of the superstitions relating* to 
remedies for bodily ills : 

If you will carry a potato in your pocket, it will cure rheu- 
matism. 

A potato carried in your pocket will keep away rheumatism. 

If you carry a rabbit’s hind foot in your pocket, you will 
never have rheumatism. 

A horse-chestnut carried in your pocket will cure rheumatism. 

If, on retiring, you insert the toe of one shoe in the mouth 
of the other and then place them under your bed, it will cure 
rheumatism. 

If you will put a spider in a nutshell and wear it around your 
neck, it will cure a fever. 

And so on almost to any extent. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


215 


It is easy for those who give their time and attention to 
learning to over-estimate the rationality of the average mind. 
It is not easy for students to look at humanity in an unbiased 
way. The spirit of learning is of necessity optimistic in its 
tendency; and to this we owe much of our progress. But it is 
necessary to insist that, for the good of the cause of education, 
we must not fail to recognize the fact that underneath what 
passes for average culture there lies undisturbed a great mass of 
irrational predisposition, which in the hour of fear and excite- 
ment rules the mob and dictates irrational conduct. This is why 
we need more schools, more laboratories, more real teaching, more 
scientific conscience, and more courage for the sake of truth. 

It is quite easy for us to imagine, because we can do so many 
wonderful things today which other and earlier peoples were 
unable to do, that we are infinitely superior to them in intellectual 
powers. We forget that most of our efficiency comes from the 
use of accumulated inventions and discoveries of the past. We 
owe far more to our social and scientific heritage than we are 
inclined to acknowledge. After a careful analysis of Greek 
intellect and culture, Galton has said that “the average abilitv 
of the Athenian race is, on the lowest possible estimate, very 
nearly two grades higher than our own ; that is, about as much 
as our race is above that of the African negro. ’ ’ 20 

In the light of this study, I want to ask this question, for I 
believe all people ought to interest themselves in the rational 
education of children : What about the general and almost 

unquestioned usage of teaching much mythology in the lower 
grades? Is it most helpful to the mental development of the 
children? Will it tend to make them rational beings? Or have 
we already too much faith in mythical entities? 

I know that most literary men look with wonder and pity 
upon one who, in their estimation, is so foolish as to call in 
question the great value of the study of the myth in schools. 
They tell us that it is impossible to understand the higher liter- 
atures without a thorough knowledge of these products of lower 
civilizations, and consequently they must be learned as a best 


20 See Hereditary Genius , p. 331. 


216 


University of California Publications in Education 


[VoL 


r. 

•j 


preparation for further work. I do not wish to dispute the just 
claims made by literary critics, to the end that a correct concep- 
tion of the growth of myth is necessary in the interpretation of 
much classic literature. But I do seriously call in question the 
wisdom of giving to the lower grades of school as much mythology 
as I have found given in many parts of our country. Schools are 
planned not alone for that which is to come, but also for that 
which now is. The time for the study of mythology comes when 
a knowledge of it is necessary, and not before. Much culture, 
as well as insight into human nature, can be derived from a 
proper study of mythology ; but children are not able to see these 
things in the proper light. The whole world of nature is open 
to young children, and nothing can be more healthful and nothing 
more to their liking than this if we would only allow them. 

“And Nature, the old nurse, took 
The child upon her knee, 

Saying : ‘ Here is a story-book 

Thy Father has written for thee. ’ 

«/ 

1 Come wander with me, * she said, 

'Into regions yet untrod; 

And read what is still unread 
In the manuscripts of God. ’ * ’ 

Much literature is burdened with mythical allusions simply 
because many authors know more of myth than they know of 
reality. Ignorance of the real world of Nature is our most serious 
hindrance. If we were not too lazy to look and listen, or too 
impatient to stop to consider, knowledge would become more 
interesting than myth, and infinitely more useful. 

Of course we do not want to develop in our children that 
stiffness of mind which is associated with a mere matter-of-fact 
experience. A lively imagination when guided by reason, or 
induced by a praise-worthy emotional activity, is one of the most 
useful qualities of a practical and happy mind. But certain 
educational writers and literary men seem to think that without 
the use of mythological stories and superstitious lore children 
cannot develop vivid and vivacious imaginative power. With 
this notion I cannot agree. Any literary material which stim- 
ulates the imaginative function to its most normal and vital 
activity is that which introduces imagery related to that already 

c / d 1 «/ t. 


1907] 


D) • esslar . — Superstition and Education. 


217 


possessed by the mind. A story or a literary selection which 
demands an artistic and well balanced use of the experience the 
child already possesses furnishes excellent practice in imagina- 
tion. But it must not be forgotten that words have no meaning 
without a previous experience more or less representative of their 
content. The most lurid words will never give a child, blind from 
birth, the least notion of a sense of light, nor even suggest the rich 
colorings of an autumn sunset. 

The first and most necessary condition for vivid and lively 
imagination is an adequate fund of clear and definite experience. 
This to my mind is the great desideratum, and increasingly so as 
modern city life with its bleakness starves the nature-love of 
an increasing number of children. If the prime factor in the 
training of the imagination were fairy story and myth, most 
European peasants ought to possess a lively imagination instead 
of the stolid superstitious natures so characteristic of many of 
them. For they were all brought up on folk tales, fairy stories, 
and superstitious lore which abound in the land of their homes, 
even to the point of oppression. 

The highest quality of imaginative power is measured neither 
by the strength of superstitious longings nor by faith in the 
mythical entities of an outgrown civilization. It has to do with 
the artistic, practical, and rational use of the realities that lie all 
about us. 

If certain of the emotional inclinations, which this study has 

had under consideration, can be classified as psychic remnants, 

then it seems to me plain that one part of the teacher’s work 

should consist in hastening their atrophy. And this can be 

accomplished most safely and most speedily in two ways: First, 

offer no opportunity for the exercise of an aptitude to believe 

what is known to be false. It is a mistaken idea to allow children 

to believe in ghosts and superstitious lore, or even to hear about 

them in anv serious way. Those who claim that children would 
«/ «/ 

be deprived of their keenest pleasures if the superstitious tales 
and myths of the race were withdrawn from them should be 
reminded that the desires of undeveloped minds are not neces- 
sarily identical with their needs. If it were so we should have 
only to study the fancies and longings of child life in order to 


218 University of California Publications in Education. [VoJ.5 


know what educational guidance to give it. The highest form 
of education must ever consist in correlating life with the best 
and truest civilization. 

I believe it is a mistaken idea to hold that childish imagination 
gets its best training from a consideration of myth and ghostly 
tales. To be sure, there is no doubting the fact that children, at 
least most children, receive these things with marked excitement ; 
but excitement must not be interpreted as interest, neither must 
we expect the imagination to get any systematic or even serious 
haphazard training unless through direct experience it has been 
furnished with material upon which it can act. 

The restriction thus suggested in no wise attempts to declare 
that all folk-tales and historic stories should be excluded from 
our scheme of education. The rather it attempts to emphasize 
in a decided manner the need of selecting stories which have no 
tendency to exercise a power which the laws of development are 
constantly proclaiming must be discarded as no longer primarily 
useful. It seems incredible to suppose that it is our duty to 
develop a function whose increase in activity and power only 
serves in later life as a hindrance to rational thinking and doing. 


The argument used to refute this position does not sufficiently 
take into account the compensations of mental life. True, a 
frog must first develop gills before he can reach that stage in his 
existence where lungs alone can properly serve him; there is no 
alternative for him. In his infancy, it is either gills or death. 
This analogy does not hold for the mental life of the child. His 
life does not depend on learning to believe what in later stages 
he must give up or fail of his best powers. His imagination can 
have recourse to the things at hand, to all forms of reality imme- 


diately about him. And some of these are capable of begetting" 
an interest as keen and one as deeply absorbing as any supersti- 
tious tale ever told. Even if it be thought that the fear instinct 
must receive its due amount of exercise in childhood in order to 
insure a full and sufficient growth, surely the environments of 
daily life offer a surplus of stimulations in this direction. 

At the proper stage in a frogs life his gills disappear, and 
his further development depends on their disappearance. In this 
stage of his existence it is either lungs or death. But the mind 


1907] 


Dresslar. — S uperstition and Education. 


219 


does not and cannot cast off its earlier developments in any such 
sudden or permanent way. On the contrary, we know that early 
training of predispositions leaves lasting* effects. Our best edu- 
cational theory is in line with this, and it seems unnecessary to 
make an exception in favor of superstitious stimulations. 

It is necessary to distinguish clearly between those stories 
which develop superstitious faith and trust and those which 
portray ethnic ideals of life and conduct. There is a great mass 
of folk-tales and rhymes which are admirably adapted to the 
demands of normal and wholesome development. They have 
come down to us as a rich heritage from more primitive condi- 
tions and reflect in their adaptations the freshness and vigor of 
early imagination. They are delightful in their directness and 
simplicity and helpfully stimulating in every way. But there 
are thousands of others which derive their popularity almost 
wholly as a result of the superstitious thrill they awaken in the 
minds of the children and even those grown older. They have 
doubtless, as we have shown, served some useful purpose in 
former times, but we have no educational need for them in the 
present stage of development, and should look upon them as not 
only useless but dangerous to rational life. We now have better 
material to offer. 

It would be impossible for any one to make a selection of folk- 
tales, legends, or myths that would elicit identical reactions from 
any large group of children or adults. What would call forth 
no disturbing or superstitious thrill in one might develop in 
another a feeling to believe, or a feeling of satisfaction in a 
superstitious faith which would tend to defeat the very purpose 
of any scheme of rational education. Perhaps the only dogmatic 
direction which could be given to guide in the selection of such 
material as we have under consideration is one based on this 
personal reaction. But it is quite safe to say that those legends, 
superstitious myths, and stories, which are so constructed as to 
fix the attention and interest of the children on some hidden, 
occult, and superstitious power, and in this way to exercise and 
develop this tendency of human nature, are generally useless for 
children, if not positively dangerous. When they beget a fear 
which we associate with staring eyes and blanched face, and 


220 


University of California Publications in Education . 


fVol. 5 


suggest nothing akin to possible experience, then we may be sure 
we are not dealing with safe material for the rational develop- 
ment of children. "‘There is a wide difference, 7 ’ as Keightly 
remarks, “between popular legends and stories: the former are 
objects of actual belief, the latter are only regarded as sources of 
amusement. ’ ’ 21 

Only the best is good enough for children, and when we care- 
lessly allow them or purposely direct them to develop a credulous 
and superstitious faith we thereby do them a permanent injury. 

It is not enough to shield them from error. There must be 
developed the habit of rational interpretation. And this habit 
comes, as all habits come, through uninterrupted and continuous 
exercise. Surely there can be no just excuse for a practice which 
permits the child to grow up in an atmosphere of emotional 
credulity. It cannot be wrong to direct him from the first to see 
as far as possible that life is bound up in law; that he himself 
must ever be subject to such laws, and that, other things equal, 
he who can best see the relation of cause and effect will be least 
enslaved and least handicapped in the attainment of higher 
standards. But it has been claimed that just such training as 
is here hoped for inclines to the production of a dogmatic and an 
uninteresting character; that scientific methods cannot be used in 
the instruction of young children because their minds are not 
adapted to such a method of thinking. It is said that they are 
then passing through the savage stage and must be allowed to 
deal with the world order as a savage would deal with it. In 
other words, they must be allowed to go wrong before they can 
go aright. There is an important pedagogic truth in these con- 
tentions, and there is neither desire nor intention on my part to 
detract from its usefulness. Adaptation of cultural material to 
the childish mind is a necessity, and of great importance, if we 
are to expect the best results from any course of study. But 
adaptation does not imply falsification, neither does it imply 
a necessary attempt to adjust the minds of our youth to the 
methods and faith of a lower civilization. It must be that the 
most rational education will ever have to do with the truest and 


21 See Keightly, Tales and Popular Fictions, p. 339. 


1907] 


D) ' esslar . — S uperstition and Education. 


221 


best results of human development, and will not wastefully 
entangle the mind and spirit with the outgrown and disproved 
faith of former ages. Children, though immature and credulous 
beings, are not so abnormally unrelated to the world as to desire 
fiction and fancy more than truth and reality. If they often 
prefer the false to the true it is because their teachers and helpers 
are incapable of bringing them into relationship with that truth 
which lies within their sphere of appreciation. A minister once 
asked an actor to explain to him why the people were apparently 
more interested in the fiction presented on the stage than with 
the truth offered from the pulpit. The actor replied: “We 

present fiction as if it were truth, you present truth as if it were 
fiction.” Much of our teaching could be put to shame in the 
same way. We impose upon the children because we have less 
enthusiasm for the truth than for myth and make-believe. We 
seem to know many things but to really understand very few. 

Granted that the child is incapable of abstract reasoning, it 
still remains that he is capable of relating cause and effect, if 
these be presented to him objectively and simply. At no time in 
life does the question “Why?” come oftener than it does in 
childhood. At no stage of development should our children 
receive more careful and conscientious answers than at this stage, 
for they then accept them in the best of faith, whether they be 
true or false. Humanity in its painful progress for truer ideals 
will make more than enough serious errors despite all that its 
intelligent guides can do to prevent ; and it does seem that any 
intentional swerving from the best we know is fraught with 
danger. 

To many people, a mind trained to put aside the dictates of 
emotionalism and loath to accept nothing short of reasonable 
proof may seem prosy, skeptical, and slavish to fact ; but who 
will dare denv that the sooner this becomes an established ideal 
in our system of training the sooner will society rid itself of that 
extravagance of mind which incites to mob violence and whets 
an appetite for the unreasonable. The acceptance of a critical 
attitude does not, however, render the mind prosy nor make the 
world less interesting. Were it undesirable to get rid of all 
our superstitious longings, surely there would be left enough of 


222 University of California Publications in Education. [Tol. 5 


personal bias in our best attempts at scientific demonstrations to 
give sufficient stimulus in that direction. At best we reach too 
many conclusions as the result of a more or less vague feeling to 


believe regardless of our data. Besides, the higher interest and 
diviner joy that come to an honest thinker will far out-balance, 
in the adornment of character, all the attractions supposed to 
emanate from a mind willing to conclude regardless of fact. 
“The great master fallacy of the human mind/’ says Professor 
Bain, “is believing too much — believing without or against evi- 
dence. The signal and decisive example is over-generalization, 
the vice of every human being for the early part of life, and of 
more than nineteen-twentieths to the last. There may be emo- 


tional forces working to this result, but it can be shown that these 
would not succeed as they do but for the natural tendency to 
suppose that what we see and know is the measure of the unseen 
and unknowable. ” 22 

We are inclined to believe in the judgment of this eminent 
logician, and yet in the spirit of that incredulity which he seems 
desirous of promulgating, we cannot help wondering how he 
happened to hit upon “nineteen-twentieths," or how “it may be 
shown that the emotions would not succeed in bringing about 
this result, were it not for a natural tendency to suppose 
that what we see and know is the measure of the unseen and 
unknown." Is not this “natural tendency” an emotional 
prompting? for surely it cannot be classed as rational. It is 
probable that in this quotation Professor Bain has generalized 
beyond his knowledge of fact, but the fundamental truth which 
he wishes to impress has not been over-rated or over-stated. 

There is a fundamental error in the doctrine that children 


need to re-live the life of the race. That they exhibit in their 
growth the mental characteristics of lower stages of civilization 
there can be no doubt. But it is a serious mistake to conclude 
that because of this similarity of mental behavior children should 
be brought up to believe in the out-grown conclusions of the race, 
or to seriously interest themselves in the superstitious faith which 
satisfied and even served a more credulous ancestry. 


22 Bain, The Emotions and Will, p. 513. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


223 


The doctrine of the culture epochs has been of great service 
in so far as it has fixed the minds of parents and teachers upon 
the important facts of child mind and child character, and 
the imperative necessity of the adaptation of our best cultural 
material to the needs of child nature; but it is scarcely short of 
criminal to conclude, because the out-grown ethnic stuff left over 
from former generations is well adapted to the mental powers and 
credulous nature of the child that, in order to further his normal 
growth and development, we must saturate him with it, and bring 
him up on it. The educational burden of every age consists in 
the duty of putting the succeeding generations into possession of 
all the truth, of all the wisdom, of all the power, and of the 
“sweetness and light to which past generations have been able 
to attain. Any educational doctrine which introduces a lower 
ideal than this for the care and culture of children must be 
inadequate. And hence there is an ever-present demand upon 
teachers and parents to close the blind alleys of human experience 
as well as to direct the youth to walk in the paths which our best 
wisdom leads us to believe lie in the direction of progress, purity 
and peace, — progress for the individual and society, purity for 
the home and the nation, peace for the mind and for the soul. 

Ever since evolution seized upon the psychic power of man as 
the chiefest elements of his further development there has been 
a more or less steady growth in the demand made upon him to 
direct his own progress. While natural selection operates too 
slowly, conscious selection runs the risk of suicidal errors. And 
so as man comes more under the burden of self-control and self- 
guidance, he must of necessity become more and more thoughtful 
of the future and consequently more critical of the means he 
employs to attain the ends which he conceives to represent his 
ideal of progress. When psychologists and literary enthusiasts 
insist on giving children myth and superstition as material out 
of which to evolve their thought-life, and their faith, they fail to 
see that such material, though often well adapted to the mental 
powers of children, is in reality not what they need. It is useless 
to waste time and energy on what we know to be false, even 
though it be interesting. I can see no adequate excuse for filling 
the minds of children with the mythological and superstitious, 


224 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol. 5 


for these things, as we have said, not only operate to keep alive a 
taste for them, bnt of necessity tend to develop the habit of be- 
lieving in what their emotions prompt them to believe in. despite 
its irrationality. Literature, history, science, and art are full of 
cultural stuff which is not only psychologically adapted to unde- 
veloped minds, but is at the same time rationalizing, refining, and 
useful. From such material as this it is our duty to select in 
order that the children may be blest with the use of the best we 
have and shielded as far as possible from doing what is now 
known to be useless. 

Myth and superstition offer to properly equipped adults 
fertile fields for research and study. They reveal phases of the 
growth of the human spirit as no other records can. Against 
this use of them we have not only no fault to find but, on the 


contrary, earnestly recommend them as worthy of the careful 
study of all students of human nature. 

The well balanced individual is one whose emotional nature 
is as closely adapted to the world of truth in which he now lives 
as is his intellect. If he thinks according to the demands made 
upon him for today and is capable of using modern methods of 
determining the truth, he still cannot perfectly trust himself 
unless his emotional life acts in harmonv with his reason. His 
feelings and emotional promptings must likewise be attuned to 
the life of truth as he knows it. Then and then only can he hope 
to focus his whole strength and bring it to bear as a unit on the 
problems now demanding solution. If he cannot thus adjust 
himself, there must be more or less inevitable conflict between his 
belief and knowledge, between what his emotions prompt him to 
do, and what he knows he ought to do. 

Emotions, such as we are considering, are deep-seated and 
abiding, because the physiological reactions upon which they 
primarily depend for their content and quality are those which 
hark back to conditions long in the ascendancy, and hence have 
been wrought into the very vitals of the race. 

Though the conditions have changed, these racially acquired 
predispositions are retained as remnants and reminders, and are 
easily aroused into an activity which prompts a behavior more in 
harmony with the past than with the present demands of human 
life. 


1907] 


D ress l a r. — S 1 1 persti tion and Education. 


225 


The emotional life of the coming man will not be qualitatively 
measured by the same standards we must of necessity apply to- 
day. But his feelings must ever bear a close relationship to those 
standards of conduct and behavior for which his organization, 
environment, and nurture have shaped him. Emotional regen- 
eration therefore means a reorganization of the mainsprings of 
the physical life in its adjustment to a better conception and 
understanding of the world order. 

This, to be sure, is placing upon education a difficult and 
inclusive task, but nothing short of such an ideal of balance will 
satisfy those who dream of the time when men will act reason- 
ably and judicially. “The highest form of intellectual virtue,” 
says Leckv, “is that love of truth for its own sake which breaks 
up prejudices, tempers enthusiasm by the full admission of op- 
posing arguments and qualifying circumstances, and places in 
the sphere of possibility or probability many things which we 
would gladly accept as certainties.” 23 Looking forward to the 
same ideal, we may say, from our point of view, that the highest 
form of emotional virtue is that love of balance which will enable 
us to cast out all remnants of useless emotion and fear and 
strengthen those which urge us to humane and rational living. 
The superstitious natures of many men are too strong to be 
broken up alone by “the love of truth for its own sake.” These 
must be purged of “prejudices” by starving to death those rem- 
nants of emotionalism which have long since ceased to harmonize 
with the truth as we have it todav. Guided in our thought by 
the data we have presented, we have a right to affirm that 
many people are so handicapped by the persistence of animistic 
credulity that the love of truth for its own sake is too feeble to 
break through “prejudices,” or even to “temper an enthusi- 
asm” for believing, despite all evidence to the contrary. Some 
individuals seem no more capable of adapting themselves to a 
reasonable life than lions to domestication. Inherited instincts 
are too strong in other directions. 

2. In the next place, the common mind of today exhibits 
itself as an evolution from a type of mentality far below the 


23 See The Map of Life, by W. E. H. Lecky, p. 30. 


226 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol.5 


present standard. Just as the body carries, with it useless rem- 
nants, so the common mind retains processes and products which 
can only be understood when referred to past conditions. There 
was a time in the ancestral history of man — if we may believe 
the biologists — when that part of his anatomy now known as the 
appendix vermiformis was not a source of danger, but a useful 
and necessary member. That time has past, and at present this 
anatomical remnant is probably worse than useless. Anatomists 
enumerate in all nearly a hundred such remnants, which have a 
meaning only when seen in their biological significance. So it is 
with the mind. We carry about with us mental remnants, many 
of which are not only useless but sources of positive weakness and 
danger. 

These remnants are the reminders of an ignorance from which 
we are emerging, slowly, somewhat irregularly, but surelv. In 
the meantime, the law of natural selection takes heavv toll as 
each useless and dangerous superstition is cast out forever. It 
has cost thousands of lives and sorrow untold to even reduce the 
belief in witchcraft. I say reduce it, for it is yet a dangerous 
remnant in the minds of many people. Thousands of the super- 
stitions which float in the minds of people today, while not as 
dangerous as belief in witches, exist as constant menaces to mental 
health and educational progress. When one hears an educated 
young man, or at least one said to be educated, remark that “he 
would not for anything be the seventh to have his fare rung up,” 
though riding on a modern electric street-car, one feels anew the 
utter nonsense of such things, and at the same time realizes the 
tremendous tenacity of ancestral folly. 

When we read that the designers, builders, and owners of one 
of the newest, largest, and most splendid steamships crossing the 
Atlantic combined to studiously avoid the use of the number 13 in 
connection with any state-room or convenience on board, we ought 
to think of more than the financial foresight of those who study 
to cater to the demands of intelligent people. 

It is hazardous to the mind to arouse the latent possibilities 
of these ancestral vestiges. For these when strengthened destroy 
all the boldness of mind and take away from it its verv reason for 
being. Nature has no need of a man who is afraid to think or put 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


227 


aside his superstitious fear. A lazy, fearful mind is a servant of 
the devil. For in it there is no room for the kingdom of God. 

One of the most difficult things humanity is ever called on 
to do is to free itself from the errors which it once proclaimed in 
the name of truth. We can never be sure that we have passed 
by a stumbling block, for, though it may be cast out for a time, 
there is danger that it will be met again in some modified form. 
The doctrine of hypnotism has offered recently an opportunity 
for the resurrection of middle-age mysticism and even demon- 
ology. Witchcraft is not dead and will never die as long as 
people refuse to think honestly and act accordingly. 

A belief once thoroughly drilled and lived into the mind of 
humanity is more lasting than if written on tablets of stone. 

The acceptance of a new doctrine is not necessarily followed 
by the immediate abandonment of the old, though the two be 
mutually antagonistic. AVhen Christianity was carried to the 
countries of the North and accepted, it was not uncommon for 
the priests to sacrifice to Thor and at the same time to baptize 
their children into the name of Jesus. Even so the Christi- 
anity of today is in a large measure not of Christ. Our faith is 
embarrassed with the entangling and contradictory elements of 
mysticism and the unnecessary demands of an undue super- 
naturalism. “It were better, ” says Bacon, “to have no opinion 
of God at all than such an opinion as is unworthy of him, for the 
one is unbelief, the other contumely; and certainly superstition 
is the reproach of the deity. ’ ’ 

Superstition is our inheritance of the unreasonable. It repre- 
sents that stage in the development of our ancestry when reason 
was shrouded in the mists of supernaturalism and when the fear 
of the gods made black white, and white black. 

Why should the average young person of our country carry 
about in his mind a mass of these hindrances to a true life? Why 
should so many of these things, utterly foolish, utterly devoid of 
reason, still exercise such a hidden and powerful influence on the 
thinking and behavior of older people? Perhaps you are wont 
to say that these remnants of our unreason are now used chiefly 
to amuse ourselves with, and that we retain them out of a sort of 
poetic feeling which these alone can satisfy. I reply, that a great 


228 University of California Publications in Education. [V r ol. 5 


•deal of what we sometimes call poetic feeling is at bottom our 
reverence for superstition. Here are some good examples of so- 
called poetic superstitions: 

If an old clock now long since idle suddenly begins to tick, it 
announces the approach of death. 

When the master of the house dies, unless the bees are told 
tliev will all leave their hive. 

c/ 

At 12 o’clock on Christmas eve you will see the oxen on their 
knees in prayer. 

If a white butterfly flits across your path in the spring-time, 
you will achieve success in all undertakings. 

When the cold chills run up your back, it means that a rabbit 
is silently running over your grave. 

We often hear such things as these called poetic, and in fact 
find large use made of such stuff in literature. But why do we 
call them poetic? Mainly because they appeal to our supersti- 
tious natures. They tickle our love for the supernatural and 
unreasonable. It is far easier to persuade one's self that these 
are beautiful than it is to see how utterly ridiculous they are. 
For exactly the same reason it is easier to persuade one’s self that 
his luck will carry him through than it is to earn an honest living. 
At bottom all things untruthful are useless and irreverent. As 
vet, however, humanity is not ready to leave its idols. 

In the poetic use of similes and especially of metaphors we 
have a sort of titilation of this mythic and animistic demand in 
us. These furnish the mind with the opportunity to feel, if not 
to believe, that even vague similarities in the appearance or be- 
havior of two or more things bring them into vital relations with 
each other. A large per cent, of the most pleasing metaphors 
imply an animistic interpretation of nature. 

The truer and higher poetry of the future will not stoop to 
curry favor with the people by appealing to their lower natures. 
The super-man will love truth and respond to it with greater 
pleasure than to the superstitions which now demand of us so 
much reverence. 

We not infrequently hear the word culture used to mean 
devotion to and respect for a critical knowledge of the worn- 
out conceptions of humanity. A deeper and truer culture will 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


229 


substitute a forward look for a backward devotion. I would 
not be misunderstood here. A thorough acquaintance with the 
prog ress of the race can become the most effective means in 
interpreting the present and through it building for the future. 
But knowledge begets interest, and interest begets love, and so 
we are safer when our chief interests are centered on the best 
results of humanity, and through these we look forward to the 
possibilities of better things. 

Richard A. Proctor, the astronomer, once said that “in the 
operations of nature and in the actions of men, in commercial 
transactions and in games of chance, the great majority of men 
recognize the prevalence of something outside law, the good 
fortune or the bad fortune of men or of nations, the luckiness 
or unluckiness of special times or seasons — in fine, the influence 
of something extranatural, if not supernatural.” I have proof 
of the truth of this statement in a multitude of cases. 

The feeling of luck is sufficiently strong to induce men to put 
into a lottery five dollars when there is only a remote possibility 
of getting out two. There is something inscrutable in the fact 
that, even in so palpable a fraud as a lottery which advertises to 
give only two dollars in return for five, men will put aside reason 
and be impelled and guided by what they term luck to squander 
their money and develop degenerate manhood. 

Some time ago an old man called at my home offering for sale 
lottery tickets. His ready plea was “buy one for luck.” With 
this study then in progress, I took the opportunity to question 
him. I asked him what he meant by luck. After much discon- 
nected and aimless talk, he finally came to the conclusion that it 
was “blind chance,” and then reiterated his plea with renewed 
earnestness. To him luck was a reality despite his reasoning to 
the contrary. With the idea of luck in mind, he could see nothing 
but a worthy investment in a lottery ticket. He did not attempt 
to justify his plea on any other basis than that of luck, and I dare 
say that he had learned by experience that this was his strongest 
argument. 

In a recent number of one of the most prominent newspapers 
of a very important and metropolitan city of our country I 
counted the advertisements of no less than fifty different people 


230 University of Calif or nia Publications in Education . [Vol.5 


advertising to “tell your fortune with a pack of cards” ; “to find 
lost property by a lock of your hair”; “to cure witchery”; “to 
penetrate all the affairs of your life”; “to reveal all hidden 
mysteries”; “to find through the power of second sight invest- 
ments that will make you a fortune”; “to guide sporting men 
in games of chance”; “to cure all diseases on earth”; “to give 
correct information on the whole range of the unknown.” In 
short, to do by occult means all that science has not onlv failed 
to do but that which it has proved time and time again to be 
impossible. Do not misunderstand me here. Many things im- 
possible to science today will be possibilities tomorrow, but others 
cannot be. 

These people who thus advertise know that superstition is 
stronger than reason with a great class of newspaper readers, and 
thus are able to live as parasites because men, as vet, prefer to 
be duped. P. T. Barnum made a fortune on the theory that men 
will pay fifty cents to be fooled and then consider that they have 
had their money’s worth. This may be an extreme view, but 
there is a very large element of truth in it. Perhaps the most 
insinuating curses of modern society are the quack doctors, who 
make well people believe they are sick, and charge heavily for 
their skill ; who exaggerate through suggestion until life with 
many becomes burdensome. But how shall we get rid of them ? 
We could as well ask the question in another way: How shall 

we help people to live reasonable lives? For as long as people 
believe in such things we shall have quack doctors. It will do 
very little good to disclaim against quack doctors and belief in 
the unreasonable. It is almost useless to try to prove to the 
people that the evidence supporting superstitions is not real and 
true ; for this evidence is inextricably interwoven with the warp 
and woof of their own mental lives. What the mind has ejected 
from itself seems to demand no further evidence of its verity. 
When the mind looks through the devil’s glass, his satanic 
majesty is always in sight. As Fisk says, “The persistence of 
the idea implies the persistence of the reality,” and so men be- 
lieve in superstitions because they have retained a mental demand 
for such things. 

I know of nothing that will rid humanity of superstition but 


1907 ] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Ed ucation. 


231 


education. And this education must not stop short of the habit 
of scientific method and scientific feeling. A student at work in 
the laboratory learns soon that nature tells no falsehood and that 
her laws are inexorable. The scientific worker nowhere has any 
use for the conception of luck, and so acquires the habit of dis- 
regarding all such superstitions. 

In this connection it is well to remember that we are not 
dealing with a mere passive though tenacious tendency of the 
human mind, but with one that is being reinforced and continued 
by a large number of active propagandists who are teaching the 
people to perpetuate their superstitious faith and to direct their 
lives accordingly. Our task in the education and liberation of 
humanity consists therefore not simply in organizing and build- 
ing up a body of truth designed to aid men in righteous living, 
but in actively teaching them to know and love the truth. And 
here we must see that it is more difficult to interest most men in 
things reasonable than in things mysterious and superstitious. 
In the one case there is no such emotional hankering and longing 
to receive and believe as there is in the other. This is the reason 
why fakirs and charlatans, clairvoyants and mediums, “divine” 
healers and quack doctors find it so easy to get the attention as 
well as the pocket-books of so many people. For the same reason, 
other things equal, a long-haired musician or a frowsy poet is 
received more readily and raved over as “more truly soulful” 
than the true artist who knows that if his work is to live and 
serve any worthy purpose the less of make-believe there is in it 
the nearer he has come to fulfilling an artist’s mission. 

Modern novelists and magazine writers, perhaps unconscious 
of the fuel they are casting into the flames, are given to playing 
upon the superstitious imagination and preference of their 
readers by selecting titles not dictated by the real contents of 
their writings, but those which are suggestive of mystic and 
hidden meanings. Such titles pay dividends, and not infre- 
quently are demanded by publishers. Of late preachers have 
become somewhat tainted with the same spirit of advertisement, 
and at times rival their literary brethren by conjuring up 
“catchy” subjects or titles for their sermons. 

If St. Paul were here to preach in the midst of a modern 


232 University of California Publications in Education. [ Vol. 5 


Areopagus, he might very truthfully proclaim as he did to the 
Athenians of old, “In all things I perceive that ye are somewhat 
superstitious. 

3, We can onlv calculate on the instinctive inclinations of a 

%/ 

people, not on recent educational veneer. We must not expect 
the education of a few generations to eradicate the habits and 
methods acquired during the unnumbered ages of barbarism. No 
system of education can be devised that will reconstruct humanity 
in a decade, or even in a century. Mental evolution is the most 
momentous task of the ages. Education is not for the purpose of 
making monev. It seeks to make men reasonable and to cast out 

O t' » 

the fear of the unknown in order that they may live more useful 
happy lives. It is rare to find a man who fully believes in edu- 
cation for its own sake; who does not continually ask, “Will it 
pay ? ’ ’ 

It may seem to us at times that our schools cost much monev, 

and they do; but this very fact is the best possible evidence that 

we are coming to realize that the best place to invest for our 

children is to invest in our children. The onlv legitimate use of 

money is to make ourselves and others better. The learned Plato 
*/ 

said: “The wise man will esteem and cultivate above everything 
those sciences which will perfect his soul." The true work of 
life is self-culture and devotion to the highest ideals of helpful- 
ness. All else must be subordinate. As we develop toward a 
perfecter life, constantly higher and better conditions are needed 
for our spiritual sustenance. Serpents can live in an atmosphere 
almost wholly devoid of oxygen, but as we observe the needs 
of the ascending series of animal life we find that purer air is 
needed. Likewise as our human natures expand and develop 
away from the groveling things of our environment and our 
lower natures, the more we demand purer and better homes, 
better government, better friends, and a truer insight into the 
world of nature. We need more courage to stand up against the 
foes of the spirit than against all that may oppose us in the flesh. 
Men are not put to death today for mere opinion ’s sake, but they 
often murder their own highest possibilities by submitting to 
superstitions of a forgotten past. The most practical education 
one can acquire is one that will make him a reasonable creature. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


233 


The most practical thing* in this world is an earnest, honest, 
consistent belief in the sanity of the Universe. Without this 
faith, the foolish fears and the harrowing* superstitions of life will 
offer to us unceasing* disturbance. 

4. In the light of mental economy as we understand it today, 
the emotions are not ends in themselves, but develop in us for the 
purpose of prompting* and controlling behavior. And, in the 
long run, those emotions which cease to have any direct bearing- 
on useful activity are left as remnants which function under 
more or less extraordinary or untimely circumstances. Such 
remnants may become dangerous when through renewed activity 
they tempt or drive us to do what we now know will lead to no 
permanent service either for the individual life or for humanity 
in genera]. 

It goes without saying, therefore, that the emotional life if 
it is amenable to direct education at all demands a share of the 
efforts we put forth to assist nature in developing* a character 
freest from the useless and harmful, and at the same time abound- 
ing in desires to do worthy service. 

It is as much our duty to attempt to shape our mental life so 
that our feelings and emotions will prompt us to worthy and 
useful behavior as it is to refine the powers of observation and 
reason in order that we may trust them to guide in the progress 
of life and to lead us along* the paths which issue in illuminated 
and rational living*. Indeed the former is the more essential, as 
it deals with a more dominant and fundamental psychic dynam- 
ism. By this I do not mean to suggest that proper educational 
endeavor in the one direction does not bring about development 
in the other, for the mind constantly tends to unify and balance 
itself ; but disproportionate and continued emphasis in one 
direction inevitably gets the life askew and seriously warps our 
estimates of values. And here, I believe, we find the weakest 
spot in our educational theory as well as in our educational 
practice. As our schools and curricula are organized today, we 
are pledged to give nearly all our time and our best endeavors to 
intellectual considerations, and even if we make any attempt at 
emotional refinement and control we do it too often in the merest 
haphazard way. In fact we have given so little conscious atten- 


234 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol.5 

tion to the emotional life and its training that we have formulated 
as yet no illuminating principles to guide us in this part of our 
duty. Doubtless this failure is due in large measure to the 
inability on our part to easily analyze out and lay bare the hidden 
springs of our emotional natures. But this difficulty should offer 
no permanent barrier. It should the rather challenge the keener 
endeavor. If it tax to the utmost the minds of the wisest, we 
should seek earnestly for guidance in this vital part of our work. 
And, since this help must come from the combined wisdom of the 
many, all the more urgent is the need for a general interest in it. 

To know something of the conditions of humanity, even in 
these darker and more barbarous aspects of its nature, will, I 
believe, serve to prepare us better to realize the need and im- 
portance of a purposeful education. True, there is something 
uncanny about these things. But we must remember that they 
grew up in the minds of men and have found there a secure and 
it seems an almost eternal abiding place. 

We sometimes flatter ourselves that we have attained almost 
unto freedom. But I think even a short study of the superstitious 
tendencies prevalent today will convince the most enthusiastic 
that we are in no little measure still slaves to the unreason of our 
uncivilized ancestry. And we shall never attain unto rational 
living until we are regenerated through the gospel of truthful 
learning; until we acquire the habit of fearless investigation, 
persistent thinking, and courageous belief. We can certainly 
hope for, but not presently expect, the dawning of a better day 
for humanity, when the soul of man will be satisfied with the 
rational concept of law and order, and when superstitious pre- 
disposition will have been transformed into a love for truth and 
righteous living. When we have so learned to adjust ourselves, 
unto us it will be given to know something of the mysteries of 
the Kingdom of Heaven. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


235 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


Abbott, G. F. 

Macedonian Folk-lore. (Cambridge Press), 1903. 

Abercromby, John. 

The Pre- and Proto-historic Finns. 2 vols. London (D. Nutt), 1898. 
Addy, S. O. 

Household Tales and Traditional Remains. London (David Nutt), 1895. 
Bergen, Fanny D. 

Current Superstitions. Memoirs of American Folk-lore Society. Boston 
(Houghton), 1896. 

Brand, John. 

Observation on Popular Antiquities. London, 1777. 

Campbell, T. F. 

Popular Tales of the West Highlands. 4 vols. Edinburgh (Edmonston), 
1862. 

Campbell, John G. 

Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. 
Glasgow (MacLehose), 1902. 

Clouston, W. A. 

Popular Tales and Fiction — Their Migrations and Transformation. 2 
vols. London (Blackwood), 1888. 

Curtin, Jeremiah. 

Hero Tales of Ireland. London (Macmillan), 1894. 

Myths and Folk-tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars. 
Boston (Little, Brown & Co.), 1903. 

Cushing, Frank H. 

Zuni Folk-tales. New York (Putnam), 1901. 

Drake, Samuel G. 

Annals of Witchcraft in New England. (Woodward.) 

« 

Fiske, John. 

Myths and Myth-makers. Boston (Houghton), 1891. 

Gibbings, W. W. 

Folk-lore and Legends. London (Gibbings), Volumes on Various Na- 
tions, 1889 ff. 


236 University of California Publications in Education . L Vo1 - 5 


Gould, S. Baring. 

Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. Boston (Roberts), 1882. 

Granger, Frank. 

The Worship of the Romans. London (Methuen), 1895. 

Grimm, Jacob. 

Teutonic Mythology. (Translated by Stallybrass.) 4 vols. London 
(George Bell), 1888. 

Grinnell, George B. 

Blackfoot Lodge Tales. New York (Scribners), 1892. 

Hunt, Robert. 

Popular Romances of the West of England. London (Chatto & Windus), 
1881. 

Hutchinson, Horace G. 

Dreams and Their Meaning. London (Longmans), 1901. 

Keightly, Thomas. 

Tales and Popular Fictions. London (Whittaker), 1834. 

Leland, C. G. 

Etrusco-Roman Remains. London (Unwin), 1892. 

Ovid. 

Fasti. 

Parkinson, Thomas. 

Yorkshire Legends and Traditions. 2 vols. London (Elliot Stock), 1889. 
Pliny. 

Naturalis Historia. 

Skeat, W. W. 

Malay Magic. London (Macmillan & Co.), 1899. 

Wuttke, Adolf. 

Der deutsche Yolksaberglaube der Gegenwart. Berlin (Wiegand & 
Grieben), 1869. 


1907] 


Dresslar. — Superstition and Education. 


237 


INDEX. 


Advertisements, the appeal of, 4; 
in newspapers, 30. 

Allen, Grant, quoted, 202. 

Amulets and charms, 116. 

Animals in superstition, 184. 
Animals, the revelations of, 187. 

Animate and inanimate, kinship of, 
141. 

Animistic belief, 189. 

April-Fool’s day, 77. 

Average mind, the rationality of, 
215. 

Babies, 25. 

Bacon, Lord, quoted, 156. 

Bain, Professor, quoted, 222. 
Balance, the demand for, 200. 
Belief in superstition, 2, 170, 193. 
Birds, 27. 

Birthday, 79. 

Boasting, 96. 

Body signs, miscellaneous, 104. 
Bread and butter, 11. 

Brooms and sweeping, 64. 

Candles, 63. 

Cats, 33. 

Chairs and tables, 51. 

Charms and cures, 178. 

Charms, strings and ribbons, 113. 
Chickens, 31. 

Child, its relation to truth, 221. 
Christmas, 79. 

Clock, 53. 

Clothes, wearing, wrong side out, 

117. 

Comb, 62. 

Common mind, over-estimation of, 
7. 

Cows, 41. 

Cracks, stepping on, 94. 


Crickets, 46. 

Crossing hands while shaking 
hands, 93, 97. 

Culture epoch theory criticized, 
223. 

Curtin, Jeremiah, quoted, 199. 
Conclusions, the necessity of, 143. 
Conscious evolution, 223. 

Counting and numbers, 83. 

Credulity, danger of emotional, 

220 . 

Days of the week, 71. 

Death and funerals, 122. 

Disease, superstitious treatment of, 
178. 

Dish rag, 65. 

Dogs, 37. 

Door, in at one and out at another, 
90. 

Dreams, 124. 

Dress and clothing, 112. 

Ear, itching, burning, and ringing, 

102 . 

Easter, 77. 

Educated and uneducated, 147. 

Emotional bias, compelling force 
of, 149. 

Evidence, popular notion of, 212. 
Eye, itching, 101. 

Faith-cure, 180. 

Fear and superstition, 141. 

Fire, 16. 

Fish, 45. 

Fisk, John, quoted, 213. 

Foot, right and left, 111. 

Freedom and truth, 151. 

Frogs and toads, 45. 

Gamblers, use of rabbit’s foot 
among, 213. 

Garden tools, etc., 66. 


238 University of California Publications in Education. [Vol . 5 


Gravitation, its possible relation to 
the preference for odd numbers, 
203. 

Ground-hog day, 77. 

Haddon, Dr. A. C., quoted, 207. 
Hairpin, 61. 

Hallowe’en, 78. 

Hamilton, Sir W., quoted, 153. 
Hand, itching, 100. 

Hay, 71. 

Handkerchief, 60. 

Haunted houses, danger of at 
night, 163. 

Healing, superstitious, 179. 

Horses, 41. 

Horseshoes, 68. 

Imagination, 216. 

Indecision, the strain of, 157. 
Initials, 140. 

Insects, 49. 

Knives and forks, 56. 

Ladders, 67. 

Lancaster, citation, 5. 

Laughing, 86. 

Lecky, W. E. H., quoted, 225. 

Left, over the, 205. 

Lightning, 17. 

Lips, itching, 102. 

Lizard, 49. 

Luck, 159 ; belief in, 163. 

Luck money, use of, 169. 

Lucky pigs, 171. 

Match, 63. 

Material, method of gathering, 2. 
May day, 77. 

Mirrors, 53. 

Mole, birth-mark, sty, 110. 

Money, 120. 

Moon, 18. 

Myth, uses of in schools, 215. 

New Year’s day, 75. 

Nose, itching, 101. 

Numbers, 80. 

Odd numbers, preference for, 195. 
Owls, 30. 

Palm, an itching, 100. 

Peacocks, 30. 

Pins, 59. 

Plants and fruits, 14, 16. 


Pointed instruments, 57. 

Proverbs, form of, 209. 

Precious stones, 115. 

Proctor, Richard A., quoted, 229. 
Purpose of this study, 6. 

Quack doctors, 5, 230. 

Rabbits, 43. 

Rainbow, 17. 

Rats, 44. 

Raymond, Professor, quoted, 202. 

Remnants, the danger of mental, 
226. 

Rhyme, effect of on form of super- 
stitions, 211. 

Rings, 118. 

Salt, 9. 

Sanford, Professor E. C., study of, 
196. 

Sheep, 41. 

Shoes, 114. 

Singing and crying, 86. 

Snakes, 48. 

Sneezing, 94. 

Speaking, two people at same time, 
89. 

Spiders, 46. 

Spiritisms, 133. 

Spiritualistic movement, 151. 
Spoons, 55. 

Stars, 23. 

Starting on a journey, • 87. 
Stumbling and falling, 98. 
Suggestion, 163. 

Superstitions, list of the most com- 
mon, 190. 

Sweeping, brooms and, 64. 

Swine, 41. 

Table, sitting on a, 97. 

Taboo, use of, 155. 

Tea and coffee, 12, 14. 

Tea-kettle, 64. 

Thirteen, superstitions concerning, 

202 . 

Turtle, 49. 

Umbrella, 62. 

Uses of superstitions, 154. 

Vignoli, T., quoted, 148. 

Warts, 107. 

Washing and wiping together, 91. 
Weddings, 138. 


1907] 


I)> ’ esslar . — S uperstition and Education. 


239 


Wilde, Lady, quoted, 155, 207. 
Winckler, Hugo, reference to, 202. 
Window, through a, 98. 

Wish-bones, 121. 

Wishes, relation to prayers, 175. 
Wishing, 175. 


Wister, Owen, quoted, 148. 

Women, belief of, in superstitions, 
44. 

World order, attitude of common 
mind toward, 172. 

Wuttke, Adolf, 207. 



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